Shuffle
by Rook-385
Summary: Marinette used to have a regular life, but when a villain named Beetle begins terrorizing Paris, that regular life fades away to almost constant fear. However, her fear fades away when she meets a man named Master Fu.
1. Chapter 1: Field Trip

Chapter 1: field Trip

The air was still and cold. The light that filtered through revealed the dust that filled the air, the same light also revealed the figures of two men.

One man was tall and lanky, standing tall with his hands behind his back he looked down at the other man, "You target is the downtown, do all you can to draw him out." The man said firmly.

Bowing to the first man, the shorter figure nodded, "I will strike my target and draw him out, I will not fail you." He replied earnestly. Standing, the figure turned on his heels and disappeared into the shadows.

Meanwhile across Paris a school bus made its way through traffic. Inside it a teacher was lecturing their class, "Okay class, I know that many of you have already been to The Louvre, but unlike your visits we aren't just going to have fun, we're going to look at how the art embodies the culture of Paris." Finishing her announcement the instructor sat back down. Once she did, Marinette and Alya attempted to pass the time.

"If I could have any superpower… it would be...?" Alya began glancing out of the window deep in thought, soon catching sight a mime messing with the tourist. Grinning she turned back toward her friend, "It would be the power of Illusion!" Confidence clear in her voice.

Laughing Marinette replied, "Your choice is so much cooler than what I had picked."

"Oh really? what choice would that be?" Alya inquired.

"I just wanted the power to be graceful, you know how clumsy I can get!" Marinette answered.

Grinning Alya pointed at the windows opposite of their seat, "Look! We've made it to the Louvre!" Chatter filled the bus as the students found something interesting to look and talk about.

After a few minutes they had finally made it into the museum. A couple of minutes had passed as students made their way out of the bus. 

Many stretched out their legs once they had left the bus. 

However, before they could their teacher grabbed their attention once again, "Okay class, I have some good news and some bad news." After hearing a small amount of grumbling the instructor continued, "The good news is that you guys aren't stuck with me this entire field trip!" After a small cheer from the crowd of students in front of her she spoke again, "However, you will need to get into groups of four, this is bad news for you guys because I will create your groups."

Within minutes the excitement fell to a resounding zero, and the groups had been formed. In group one was Kim, Nathaniel, Rose and juleka. Group two had Alix, Max, Alya and Mylene. Group three was Adrien, Nino and Ivan. Last but not lease Group four, which consisted of Chloe, Sabrina and Marinette. Now off to analyze the the paintings, statues and documents inside the Louvre the groups departed.

As the hours passed Marinette found herself being dragged wherever Chloe pleased, Writing down the different impacts that different art embodied. An entire hour had passed when they arrived in the French Revolution area of the Louvre. Chloe crossing her arms upon arrival, "Sabrina, Marinette, you two know what to do."

With a grumble Marinette followed Sabrina as they made their way to the first painting. It was a picture if a lone women holding the french flag, she was surrounded by what looks like the poor people of france and below all of them were the corpses of the rich and powerful. 

As Marinette wrote down the date of the painting as well as its creator a deep voice filled the hall, "Does anyone know the Irony about the French Revolution?" Turning her gaze toward the voice, Marinette was met with the weirdest thing she'd ever seen. Standing at the doorway was a man in what she assumed was a costume, he wore a full body latex suit, his head covey by a red hood and black eye mask. His torso was covered by a red vest while his hands were covered by a pair of red fingerless gloves. While his legs were left alone for the most part his feet were covered by a red pair of boots. Quicky she finished sizing up the man she gazed back up to his eyes waiting for him to continue.

"No one? Not one person knows the Irony that is the French Revolution?" He asked in disbelief. Reaching behind his back he pulled out a thin baton, "It's that we need another one." The stranger spat. Suddenly, the baton expanded, going from two feet to what seemed like five he bagan running toward Marinette. After a scream, swing and fall everything went white and Marinette had hit the ground.


	2. Chapter 2: Freedom Pt1

Chapter 2: freedom Pt. 1

Marinette's eyes slowly fluttered open, giving her a clear view of her surroundings attempting to stand up from her seat, she felt a pressure on her wrist, she was tied to the chair. Scanning the area in front of her she saw rusted metal walls, a worn roof with many holes in it, and a large door that was barely connected with its hinges. Behind her she could hear voices, one similar enough to the man who knocked her out, the other voice, was deeper, and cold.

"Ah, she's awake." The cold voice sounded.

"What do you want with me?" Marinette asked, "I'm just a baker's daughter, a nobody there's nothing you could get from -," she went silent as two skinny hands began massaging her shoulders.

The man behind her took a breath, "It wasn't our intention to kidnap you, it just happened that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time." The fingers stopped, "Beetle tends to get… reckless."

"I got the target." Beetle sounded from behind them.

The man tensed, "No!" Stepping away from Marinette, it echoed through the entire chamber, "You got carried away!" Anger dripped from his voice, "What do you think will happen when Jade and Tigress get here?" He took a breath, then spoke again, barely above a whisper, "You didn't get one, not two, but three hostages." Even though Marinette could barely hear the man, she could still hear the rage taking over the man.

Swallowing the lumps in her throat Marinette took a breath, "Who e… Who else is here?"

She could hear a scof in the background, "Chloe Bourgeois, and her friend Sabrina," the man responded, voice closer, "now get some rest, you'll need it." Beetle and the man walked away, footsteps echoed in the empty chamber, leaving their hostage to suffer in the silence.

Handing the customer a paper bag Sabine waved, "Have a great day!" she continued to wave until the customer had walked out of the store.

Turning her attention to the next person in line Sabine couldn't help but smile, "Hello Bridgette!" Bridgette looked almost exactly like Sabine, the only exception being the different lengths of their hair. While sabine had short hair, Bridgette had long black hair that had been tied into a ponytail. She wore a brown leather jacket with a black tank top underneath, jeans that had a tear in the knees and a pair of brown leather boots. Her left hand was covered by an intricate hand bracelet, on the wrist was a purple wristband with yellow lining that was connected to the center purple pad that had a yellow tiger paw. Each of the fingers had rings that connected to the center with small purple chains.

The customer couldn't help but smile, "Hello Sabine." Smiling Bridgette looked behind the counter, "Where's Mari, shouldn't she be helping you out today, it is Friday?"

Sabine shook her head, "not today, she had a field trip to the Louvre." Sabine smiled, "Now let me take your order."

"You know my order by know," Bridgette took out her wallet, "What do I owe you."

Sabine smiled, "It's on the house sis."

Suddenly Sabine's phone began to ring. Grabbing it from her pocket Sabine went to shut it off, then she saw the number. It was the schools. Sabine's smile all fell. Looking up at Bridgette for a quick second she answered it.

"Is this Mrs. Cheng?" the man inquired.

Yes, I am, is there something wrong?" Sabine replied, worry clear in her voice.

She could hear the man take a breath, "She has been kidnapped."

Sabine went silent, glancing up at the growing line of customers she took a breath, "I'm sorry everyone but due to an emergency the bakery is closing for the night, sorry for the inconvenience." Chasing everyone out of the store she turned the sign around, signaling that the store was now closed. Then turned back into the restaurant she brought the phone back to her ear, ready to hear the full story.

Bridgette however, had a different idea. Making her way into the nearby alleyway Bridgette opened her jacket pocket, releasing soft purring from within. After a little nudging the little creature flew out from the pocket. The creature was essentially a tiny flying tiger. It's fur was purple with black stripes on its tail and forehead. It's eyes were orange, whiskers long, and had two little fangs were visible even with its mouth closed.

"Why did you wake me, Bridgette?" The tiny tiger spoke, obviously grumpy.

"So I just overheard that my niece had been kidnapped, and I want to track her down." The woman smiled, hopeful that the tiny creature in front of her would oblige her.

Suddenly the tiger began laughing, "Of course Bridgette, we can go find your niece, just let me message wayzz." Putting his paws against his head the tiny tiger's whiskers vibrated. Looking back up at the women in front of him, "You know the words."

Bridgette smiled, "Taag, stripes on!" Within seconds she was engulfed in a bright purple light. After a few moments, the light dissolved, revealing the women, in her confident glory. She was now covered in a purple latex bodysuit with black stripes on her arms, chest, back, and thighs. A black belt hung loosely from her waistline and a mask covered her eyes, her hair was no longer in the neat ponytail but loose to flutter in the wind.

Quickly jumping to the roof of the building she began making her way to the Louvre, grin on her face. Confident that she would find her niece.

"Master! Master!" A tiny voice began.

Glancing up from his book, Fu watched the tiny turtle fly around the furniture in an attempt to get to him. The old man smiled softly at Wayzz's antics, "Yes Wayzz?"

Flying to his master's face, Wayzz began to speak, "I got a message from Taag!" Fu nodded, allowing the tiny turtle to continue, "He said that they were going to search for a missing person."

Smiling at his kawami, Fu began to pet the tiny turtle's forehead using his index finger; "Tell him that I'm grateful." Pausing, Fu crossed his arms and started stroking his long grey beard, "However, why not let the local police deal with this?"

"It's the same reason as to why I grabbed your attention so quickly," Wayzz began. Suddenly the tiny turtle started shivering as if it was winter. After a moment or so, still shivering, he took a breath, "It's him, he's transformed Taag and I both sensed this same thing earlier."

Stroking his beard, even more, Fu glanced at the phonograph in the corner and shook his head. Gazing at Wayzz, the master nodded, "Wayzz, shell on!" Within a few moments, a bright green light engulfed the room.

Gazing up at the torn roof Marinette could see the orange sky, and With a quick glance over her shoulder, she smiled. She was alone. Scanning her surroundings, she quickly found a what looked like shattered glass. There was a problem however, it was to her left and almost ten feet away. Glancing once more to make sure she was alone, she began her plan. Pushing off the floor with her feet she managed to move a couple inches, taking that small movement as a victory. Marinette continued, slowly but surely making it over to the broken glass. Staring down at the glass next to her, she realized this was going to hurt. Slowly tipping over the chair, she closed her eyes, and awaited the pain, wincing when her arm hit the floor. Now with the glass behind her, her hands started to feel around for the glass. After a moment her hand found a shard, grabbing it she clenched her jaw in an attempt to keep the pain at bay. She began moving the sharp shard against the rope on her left wrist.

Wincing once again the rope broke, freeing her hands. Bringing her right arm to the front of the now tipped over chair, she used the same shard of glass to cut the ropes keeping her legs captive. After a few minutes, all of the ropes had been cut and she was free. Pulling her arm out from underneath the chair she began making her way outside of the warehouse. However, upon reaching the door to the outside and paused, "We have Chloe Bourgeois, and her friend Sabrina," the conversation echoed in her head.

With a nod to herself and a decision made, Marinette turned on her heel and made her way back into the shadows of the warehouse.


	3. Chapter 3: Freedom Pt2

Chapter 3: Freedom Pt. 2

The light slowly flooded Chloe's gaze as she opened her eyes. Immediately something felt _off_ to her. scanning her surroundings she immediately noticed, She was tied up, in someone else's room. In an attempt to get someone's attention she screamed, but all that came out was a muffled groan. She quickly realized had been gagged.

She searched the room for anything she could use to escape the room she could use to escape. To her knowledge, she was sat in the back corner of the room giving her a full view of it. To her left was a bed that had a blue comforter and black wooden frame, next to it and closer to her was the nightstand with three drawers and a white vase lamp with a floral pattern on the top. On the opposite of the bed was a white rolling closet door. To her right sat a large dresser with a tv sitting on it, and just beyond was a white door.

Looking over her shoulder she pulled against the ropes in an attempt to free her hands and grinned when she felt the ropes give way. Bringing her hands out from behind the chair she rubbed her wrists for a moment before leaning down to untie her feet. After a few minutes had passed she stood up and began to search the room for anything she could use to defend herself.

Quickly searching the drawers she searched for anything that could possibly help her. Pulling the top drawer open Chloe found a brush, can of hairspray, a spray bottle. Taking them out one by one she checked to see if anything useful was underneath the items, only to be disappointed when she found nothing. Thinking nothing or it she continued to search, finding nothing in the second drawer and a business card in the bottom drawer. With a frown she looked at the business card, gasping as saw the logo, the letter G inside of a circle.

Scanning the number inscribed on the card Chloe changed her priorities. _Okay Chloe, if you can find a phone, you can call for help!_ Quickly checking the rest of the room she found nothing but clothes and hair products, debating on whether to leave the room or not she quietly made her way over to the door, putting her ear against it. Silence, she couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door, listening for a few more moments Chloe decided to peek under the door. As she did so she a chill ran down her spine. Boots, she could see a pair a boots making their way toward the door, the footsteps echoed as they got closer.

Quickly standing up she scanned the room to find a place to hide, the footsteps got louder. _Would the closet work? No, that's the first place they would look!_ The footsteps got closer. _I could grab something!_ The footsteps got louder, closer! Chloe's gaze switched between the bed and the dresser divided on what to do. Then the door opened, chill running down Chloe's spine.

Slowly turning around she saw a large figure entering the room. With a scream, the blonde fell backward quickly moving away from the man her back met the nightstand. The man took a step closer to her before his face was met by a comb. Grabbing another item Chloe threw it as hard as she could, only for it to be blocked by the man's arm. As Chloe got into arms reach of the man she went to kick at the man, only for her leg to be grabbed by the man. Getting dragged out from the room Chloe held onto anything she could to slow the man down.

With a grumble the man lets go of the blonde's leg and grabbed her by the arm, Chloe resisting the whole time. Resisting up until the man grabbed her other arm and forced it behind her back, pushing it up into her shoulder blade. Chloe screamed out in pain, all resistance shattered as the pain shot through her entire arm.

Leaning close to her ear, the man spoke, "What are we going to do with you?" His foul breath flooding the air, making Chloe almost gag as he spoke.

Trying her best not to gag, "Let me go?" She asked hoping that she was right.

The man chuckled, "Wrong." The foul breath confirmed. Pushing her arm again, the girl began to scream once more, pain enveloped her arm, tears filled her eyes, and her nerves went haywire as the pain spread out from her arm.

That's when he heard a window shatter, turning to the source of the noise he saw a women standing there. She has long blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail using what looked like a blue brooch. She had a blue mask covering the area around her eyes. Her arms and upper chest was covered in black latex, however, on the outside of her arms, it had a Peacock styled pattern that was light blue on the outside and dark blue on the inside. Going from just below the chest and fanning out her chest was covered by a blue fixed fan pattern, from the fan down her latex suit was dark blue and connected to a pair of inch high heels. On both sides of her waist, she had what looked like a pair of fixed fans in the closed position.

"Let her go." The women said in a forceful tone.

The man laughed, "Why should I do that," shaking with laughter his grip on Chloe's arm loosened, "Because the women in a cheesy costume told me to?"

The women took a step towards them, "You should do what I told you," She warned, cracking her knuckles, "Because if you don't you'll have to fight me."

The man stared at the women as she pushed Chloe's arm yet again, silently challenging the women. Almost immediately the man was suddenly pulled away from Chloe, who heard a thud, yell, and then silence. A comforting hand squeezed the blonde's shoulder, "You're safe now, no need to worry."

Chloe looked over her shoulder meeting the woman's friendly gaze but frowned, "What about Sabrina? Is she safe?"

The woman smiled, "She's safe sweetheart," she said with a motherly tone, "All that's left is to get Marinette." She whispered to herself.

A pair of yellow eyes peeked over a parapet in front of her, checking to see if the coast was clear. After a few moments, the yellow-eyed women stood up and jumped over to the roof of the nearby warehouse. Landing silently, the predator quietly made her way to one of the many holes in the roof. She listened, making sure the coast was clear she dropped through one of the holes into the warehouse.

Landing with a soft thud Tigress scanned her surroundings. In front of her she could see the office portion of the warehouse, she could tell that it was abandoned by the shattered window and glass littered on the ground. To her right was nothing but shattered glass and worn concrete, the same was seen behind her. The difference was to the left of her, of course, it had worn concrete and shattered glass, those weren't the difference, it was a chair that looked as if it had been knocked over. Carefully making her way over to the chair Tigress' heart dropped.

Blood.

She could see Blood.

Why was there blood?

Where was Marinette?

Was she hurt?

Where was she?

Suddenly a gasp filled the room, quickly turning her back to the chair Tigress' gaze quickly met another. It was from Marinette. Her eyes were wide and she was cradling her left arm, trails of the blood that had dripped from it. Quickly closing the distance Marinette put her hand on Tigress' shoulder, "I know you here to rescue me right?" A desperate smile plastered on her face.

With a kind smile, Tigress responded, "I am," she confirmed, "how could you tell?" she wondered.

"You had a kinder look compared to that of the person who kidnapped me." the girl started cradling her left arm again, "So when can I get out of here?"

Tigress smiled.

A/N: Updates will be slower from here on out as I am starting another project of mine. Please forgive the inconvenience =) Keep reading people!


	4. Chapter 4: Checkup

Chapter 4: Checkup

••• **One Week Later •••**

Marinette groaned as her alarm ripped her from the beautiful dreams that had occupied her mind the night prior. The girl had never been a morning person, not by a longshot. She had always had trouble getting herself out from the warmth of her bed, it had been the case ever since the end of middle school.

With a long catlike stretch, Marinette began to make her way out of bed and to her dresser. Using the past few days as reference, the ravenette chose to put her hair in her signature pigtails. When it came to what she would wear, she chose a pair of jeans that were rolled up to the mid calf, a jean jacket, pink flats, and a pink button up with white polka dots all round it.

She looked at her outfit in the mirror and smiled. With a quick grab she slipped her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her bag and glanced over her shoulder. For some reason the girl felt like she was forgetting something, she just couldn't place her finger on it. Shaking her head, Marinette descended the stairs to the bakery grabbed a croissant, kissed her parents goodbye, and left for school.

Quickly finding her way to the school, the ravenette met up with Nino, Alya, and Adrien, who smiled at the sight of their friend, "Hey dudette! How's it going?"

Marinette shrugged, "As well as it could be in the morning, you know how it is."

Alya smiled at her friend, but crossed her arms, "Your tired?"

"I'm always tired!"

Adrien couldn't help but chuckle, "Okay tired dudette, lets get you into the classroom."

The group of friends walk into the school, making their way toward the stairs on their way to their first period. While they climbed the steps Nino looked at Marinette's outfit and smiled, "Did you make that yourself?"

The ravenette blinked at the sudden question, "What? My outfit?"

Nino smile deepened, "Yep!"

Now knowing the context of the question Marinette smiled, "It took me a long time to finish it but here it is! How does it look?"

Adrien smiled, "You look good!"

"Thanks Adrien." Marinette blushed.

The group entered classroom and sat down in their seats seconds before their Teacher arrived, starting the day. Marinette had missed this, even though she wasn't gone for long she had missed seeing her classmates. After the whole kidnapping incident Marinette, Chloe, and Sabrina had been in the hospital for a day while they check for infections or anything similar, and luckily they hadn't found anything. Soon after they had to talk to the police all over again, and after what seemed like an eternity, they were allowed to leave and join their friends once again. While school wasn't her favorite thing in the world it was better than sitting at home doing nothing.

•••••

Meanwhile at a nearby cafe a blonde haired women sat under an umbrella. She gently sipped on her drink and took small bites of the cafes breakfast meal, which consisted of a small toasted sausage and egg sandwich and a few fruits and vegetables.

The woman watched the clouds pass by sky above her and swept the branch of grapes into her purse, she smiled at the tiny squeals of happiness that emanated from her purse. As she took yet another sip, her phone started to ring. She quickly grabbed it from her purse and answered it, a frown pulling at her lips when she saw the contact number.

"Good morning Gabriel, how is it at the house?" Emilie greeted, a smile evident in her voice.

"Where are you Emelie?" Gabriel began, ignoring the greeting and going straight to the point, "Weren't you supposed to be in a meeting around now?"

Emilie frowned, "Yes I am, but their running late."

She could hear the shuffling on paper on the other side of the phone, "Well then could you help me fill out paperwork?"

Emilie sighed and glanced up from the sidewalk, her gaze meeting a woman with midnight hair, "Even if I wanted to, this meeting is very important, and they just arrived," Emelie sighed and waved at the approaching woman, "When I get back home I'll try to help with the paperwork." And with that she hung up.

Bridgette smiled, "Let me guess, Gabriel?" Today Bridgette had tied her hair back into a ponytail and was wearing a pair of black and white basketball shorts, a black tank top, and a pair of black and white running shoes.

Emelie smiled at her friend, "You have no idea."

Bridgette sat down opposite of Emelie and set down her water bottle, "Why so blue?"

Emelie glanced down at her blue dress, heels, and sunhat before responding, "I just felt like today was a good day for blue."

Bridgette shook her head, "In any case, why did you want to meet?"

The blonde sighed and glanced at the ground, "we need to talk to Fu, I think I found out who what miraculous we're fighting against."

Bridgette stood up and Grabbed the blonde's arm, "Alright let's go!"

•••••

Fu handed a warm cup of tea to his two guests before sitting opposite of the two women, "You two wanted to talk to me?"

Emelie glanced at her reflection in the tea before she spoke, "I think that I know who we're fighting."

"Argh!"

Fu and Emilie's heads spun toward Bridgette who was currently teary eyed, "I didn't know how hot this was!"

A smile found its way onto Fu's face, "As you were saying Mrs. Agreste."

The blonde took a small breath before speaking, "Well as Bridgette knows my son's birthday is coming up, and I managed to persuade Gabriel to let him have a party. And as as such I wanted to find something I could use to embarrass him in front of his friends, typical mom stuff, you know the drill." The blonde tightened her grip of her cup, "But when I was in the attic I saw a white butterfly and Dusuu had a cow, claiming that it was an Akuma." She finally looked up toward Fu, "If he's right, and I think he is. That means two miraculous against us, one would be the butterfly miraculous and the other is still unknown."

Master Fu stroked his beard and glanced at the record player that housed the Miracle Box, "That certainly is troubling, and with the Ladybug miraculous out of action we are severely understrength."

Bridgette's gaze bounced from Master fu to Emelie and back again, "What?" The two in question looked toward Bridgette in confusion. "Your telling me that you _lost_ the Ladybug miraculous?"

Master Fu shook his head, "I… yes, yes I have." He cast his eyes downcast, toward the ground, "While I am desperately searching with the help of the other Kawami, her cycle is hundreds of years away."

A comforting hand found Bridgette's shoulder, "Bridgette relax." When the ravenette looked at Emilie she was met with a very kind gaze, and a kind smile.

"Fine!"

A sudden squeal from the record player grabbed the attention of all three heroes. A tiny green blur flew into the center of the room, Wayzz bowed to the two women before turning to his master, "Master, I sense Hawkmoth's energy, he's making his move!"

Emilie felt her phone buzz in her purse, reaching for it she saw a notification she wished didn't exist, "It says that a supervillain is currently roaming around Collège Françoise Dupont.

Suddenly the tiny tiger kawami named Taag appeared out from nowhere, "I guess this is where one of us says suit up!"

Master Fu nodded, "You need to defeat the Akuma and bring it to a safe area away from here, I can seal it using magic."

The two girls nodded and said the words, filling the room with bright scarlet and turquoise light. The two heroes were one the move.

•••••

Marinette cupped her hands together and shouted into the destroyed classroom, "Is everyone okay?!"

"I am!"

"Me too!"

"I'm alright!"

Marinette smiled, people were okay. It had happened so suddenly, once second Ivan was sent to the principal office for almost starting a fight with Kim, and not even a minute later a massive rock monster arrives and collapses part of the wall. She had never seen anything like it, a supervillain? In real life?

"I am not missing this!"

"Alya wait!" Marinette called out to her friend, but she wasn't heard over the sound of the hovering news helicopter that was trying to get a story for their network.

The ravenette turned to Nino and Adrien, "You two get people out of here, I'm gonna try to get Alya out of the danger zone."

Adrien took a step toward Marinette "I'll go with you!"

The girl's bluebell eyes glance at Nino, who shook his head in agreement, "I got things here! Go get Alya and keep her out of the danger!"

The duo nodded and made their way out from the classroom and to the main road, following the path of destruction that moved toward the stadium, Adrien looked over to Marinette as they ran,"We need to find a way to catch up with it, if we can't catch up with it I don't know if we'll find Alya!"

The blonde could see something snap into place in Marinette's head, "That alleyway! Follow me!"

Taking the lead, the ravenette lead the blonde through alleyways until they ended up in front of the stadium. As the two searched for sighs of the villain a deep roar echoed through the street.

Adrien pointed to the down the road, "Look!"

Slowly making its way down the road was the bumpy, rough, villain named Stoneheart. His left hand was closed into a fist while the other held the squirming form of Alya Césaire. The villain looked down at the duo, "Will you get in my way or will you move!"

Marinette took a step forward, "All we want is our friend back!"

Stoneheart laughed, "She got in my way! No one gets in Stonehearts way!" Suddenly two blue darts collided with Stoneheart's chest. Causing the entire group, supervillain and civilian to look at the source.

Atop a nearby building were two women. One in a purple and black latex suit and the other in turquoise, gold and others.

"Drop the girl!" The woman in blue ordered.

Stoneheart growled at the woman, as he did so a purple outline of a moth mask appeared. The women in red, who Marinette recognized as Tigress jumped down from the building, landing next to the two teens. She grabbed them both by the necks of their shirts and pulled them toward her, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING! Running face first into a supervillain!"

Adrien took a step toward the hero, "We're trying to get our friend back."

"By making it mad!?" Tigress asked in disbelief

A third voice cut in, "Ti," the hero in blue had somehow made it next to them without them noticing.

"Yes Pea?"

Le Peon pointed toward the villain, "Look."

The group turned toward Stoneheart. Adrien quirked his head sideways and Marinette gasped in shock, taking a few steps backward. Currently standing on the giants shoulder was a man wearing a latex bodysuit, he had a red hood and black eye mask. His body was covered by a red vest while his hands were covered by red fingerless gloves, and while his legs were left alone for the most part, his feet were covered by a pair of red boots.

The man scanned the group and jumped down from Stoneheart's shoulder, landing with a roll. Tigress brought her fists up to her chin, ready for a fight, Le Peon grabbed the fans on her hips and opened them, apparently ready for a fight.

"Get behind us!" Le Peon yelled to the civilians.

"Tigress, its him," Marinette breathed, her hands grew sweaty as the man began to walk toward them. She took a few steps back, Adrien followed her lead, "It's him, Beetle the man who kidnapped him."

Tigress' eyes went wide with rage, "That son of a bitch!" Much to the protest of her peacock alley, She pushed off the ground and leapt toward her adversary. Teeth bared and claws out she snarled at beetle, the man who kidnapped her niece, the man who stood before her.

Beetle laughed, dodging Tigress' swipe at him upon her landing, "Let's begin."


	5. Chapter 5: Stoneheart

Chapter 5: Stoneheart

Beetle grinned at the woman in front of him, "Let's begin."

Without giving Tigress a moment to react the villain swung around, lifted his right leg up into the air, and kicked the woman in the stomach. Sending her back several feet, and giving himself enough room to retreat to Stonehearts side.

Meanwhile, at the mouth of the alleyway La Peon watched as her comrade got thrown back, _Never thinking before taking action,_ The peacock thought to herself. Her gaze switched to the Akuma, watching as it began to scale the wall of the nearby stadium. "Crap!" She turned to the two bewildered teenagers behind her, "Stay here, and please," Her gaze found Adriens, "Don't do anything stupid." La Paon then turned on her heel and left the two teenagers behind her, leaping onto the wall of the stadium in hopes of cutting of Stoneheart.

Meanwhile, Tigress picked herself off the ground and noticed the blue blur leaping up the wall, a quick glance to the alley confirming her suspicion. Turning back to her opponent, the Revan sized him up, He, was around the same height as her, that being 5'11". He was definitely younger, probably more athletic as well, not a good combination for her. Scanning his body, she noted the absence of any weapon, be it long or short range. Leaving her to believe that with was going to be a mainly close quarters fight.

Her hand reached toward her belt, a smile pulling at her lips, "This should even the odds." She muttered to herself, fingers grasping at the cords of a whip that currently rested on her hip.

Beetle, realizing the danger, began to close the distance between Tigress and himself. Dodging several swings as he did so, and finally grasping the cord in his hand. Once he had it in his grasp, he turned on his heel and pulled the whip over his shoulder, pulling the woman toward him.

"We need to get into the stadium," Adrien commented, gaze glued to the brawl in front of him.

"Yea we do." Marinette agreed, gaze leaving the fight and turning toward the stadium, "Luckily the gate is still open."

Sprinting across the street, the two teens ran through the tunnel until a yell shook the entire stadium, "KIM!" The deafening yell forced the two to cover their ears in an attempt to save their eardrums.

A series of screams echoed through the hall, soon followed by the wave of students fleeing the scene. Marinette looked over her shoulder at Adrien, "Do you still want to help?"

Adrien nodded, "Of course I do."

Marinette smiled, "Then let's keep going!" Turning back around completely the girl began to sprint full speed toward the field, quickly exiting the shadows of the hallway, and finding themselves only feet away from the giant.

La Peon, who was currently fighting the rocky giant, noticed the presence of the two teenagers, "You're kidding me! I told you two not to do anything stupid."

Taking this as his chance, Stoneheart delivered a swift punch to the hero, sending her into the stands. "KIM!" The Akuma yelled in rage at losing his target, his attention was soon drawn to the two bystanders, and as his gaze found the two a purple glow began to surround his face.

Meanwhile, outside the stadium, Tigress peeled herself off of a wall and decided to ditch the whip for now. After she had initially decided to use it she had missed her target, lost her balance, and been flung into the wall. The whip had not fixed her problems, they had only made them worse.

"So, I take it that you work for whoever holds the butterfly miraculous." Tigress began, walking opposite of the man fighting against her.

Beetle shrugged, "I only allied myself with him because he has something I need."

Tigress stopped, a sour gaze meeting Beetle's confident one, "Oh, and what do you need so badly."

Now opposite of Tigress, the hooded villain grinned, "That's for me to know, and for you to find out!"

Tigress ended the conversation there and hurled herself at her enemy. Bringing her claws out once more, the tiger swiped at the man cheek with her right hand but was blocked by his now raised arm. He brought his right hand up to send a punch into her gut but was interrupted when Tigress jumped off the ground, flipped in the air, and kicked Bettle on the side of his head, knocking him down to one knee. Tigress slid to a stop and let out a breath, raising her left hand and formed a fist, ready to punch Beetle in the back of the head and knock him out. Beetle had other plans however, he leaned forward and pushed off the ground with his palms, kicking his opponent on the chin. Sending her stumbling back a few feet and giving himself some breathing room.

"You're pretty good," Beetle told his opponent, a small buzz hovering the side of his face where Tigress had just kicked him.

"Not so bad yourself," Tigress told her adversary. A small buzz floating at the chin, and the taste of iron in her mouth.

The two clashed once more, Tigress striking the man across the cheek. Recovering from the strike, Beetle spun and sent a roundhouse kick in the direction of Tigress' gut, which sent the woman tumbling backward and to the floor. Not giving the woman a chance to breathe Beetle raised his hands into the air, "Lucky Charm!" out of breath and hurting all over, the man was relieved to have received a smoke bomb. Instantly throwing it to the ground, smoke billowed out of the container and blocked Beetle from his opponent's field of vision. Pleased with his work, the villain turned on his heel and lept toward the nearest building and away from the stalemate.

Tigress in the meantime, let out a long painful breath. Her head roared within pain from the physical punishment she had just received. Nevertheless, she picked herself up, almost falling back over in the process, and began to scan her surroundings noting the absence of her enemy, "He must have fled." She turned away from the sight of the skirmish and began to take long and heavy steps toward the stadium. Picking up her whip on the way into the tunnel

"Help her up," Marinette instructed.

The two had been able to evade Stoneheart for the time being but had decided to help get La Peon back up from the hit she took just minutes earlier. As they pulled her out of the collapsed seating area they heard the hero hiss in pain when Marinette touched her lower chest in order to get a better grip while moving the taller woman's arm over her shoulder.

Somewhere nearby the Akuma bellowed out his usual, "KIM!"

Now having picked up the unconscious hero the two began to move her out of the stands, going into one on the descending ramps and behind the seating area. Finally finding a good spot to stop, the two teenagers slowly let the hero of their support and lowered to where she was resting against the tunnel wall.

La Peon looked worse than she had earlier. She had short ragged breathing, a trail of blood going down the side of her head, and had her hand currently resting against her lower chest, over her lower ribcage.

"How is she faring?" A familiar voice called from deeper in the tunnel.

The two teenagers turned to the source, only for them to find Tigress in a similar condition to her comrade. The only differences being that Tigress was standing, and she wasn't clutching at her ribcage. However, she did have short, ragged breathing and a pained expression.

"Not too good, she can't stand up on her own and might have a broken rib or not," Adrien answered the superhero.

A determined look replaced the pained expression on Tigress' face, "I'll deal with the Akuma." As she made her way past the three bystanders a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"No." Marinette denied.

Tigress' eyes went wide, "... What…?"

"No." The baker repeated, "You're not going out there."

"Why not!" The hero yelled out in confusion and bewilderment at her niece's actions.

Marinette's own determined gaze found that of the heroes, "You're not going out there because you can barely stand, probably have a concussion, and could die out there!" The raven took a breath, calming her tone before looking back at the hero in front of her, "Look, you saved my life a couple weeks ago, I'm just returning the favor."

The determined look on Tigress' face changed to realization, "...Ok…we need...to leave…" she barely finished that sentence before the woman collapsed onto Marinette, who almost tripped while trying to catch the woman.

"Adrien, get La Peon and follow me, we're going to take them to the bakery for shelter," Marinette instructed.

"Alright," Adrien answered

After helping La Peon off the ground, the group made their way out of the stadium and down the same alleyway as they had arrived in. The difference was the twist and turns that rapidly shortened their time. Within the half hour Sabine opened the bakery door, expecting to find some terrified Parisians, but instead found her daughter, daughters crush, and two bizarrely costumed women covered in sweat.

"Mom, do you have somewhere where we can put them, they're injured."

Sabine snapped to attention, "Take them up the stairs and lay them on the couch, I'll be up there in a few minutes."

"Thanks, mom," Marinette responded with a smile and nod before turning back to her classmate and beckoning him up the stairs and into the living room where they finally laid down the two heroes. Tigress was set down on the floor, meanwhile, La Peon was given the couch due to her condition.

By the time Sabine had made her way up the stairs, first aid and ice pack in hand, Tigress was conscious once more. Sabine turned to Marinette and Adrien, "Does anyone need an ice pack?"

Adrien pointed the La Peon, "She has a broken rib, we need to stop the swelling." Jumping into action Sabine, Adrien, and Marinette all began to care for the heroes. While Adrien applied the ice pack, Marinette made sure that Tigress was getting rest, meanwhile, Sabine had taken a look at the two heroes and decided to make a executive decision.

"We need to get the blonde to the hospital."

Adrien sputtered, "How do you know?"

Sabine pointed at the woman's chest, which had seemed to have a small divet above her ribcage, "We won't be able to help without knowing what's exactly broken."

Adrien agreed with that knowledge and looked down at the older woman, "We can bring her downstairs so the paramedics can get to her easier."

A hand grabbed his shoulder, causing him to turn toward the hand's owner, and finding a worn out, sweaty, and all together mess of a Marinette, "We can't move her." She paused, gaze turning to the injured woman in front of Adrien, "We already risked so much by dragging her to the safety of the bakery, I'm… I'm just afraid that if we move her again that we'll do more harm than good."

Another hand found Adriens shoulder, Sabine's kind motherly voice sounding above him, "That's exactly why we need to stay where we are and wait for this to boil over."

As the three turned their attention to the injured heroes and as they did so Marinettes mind flashed back to Alya's predicament. She was still in trouble, and slowly getting farther and farther away from any help they could provide. Marinette turned her gaze to look outside the nearby window, she could see the silhouette of the giant, smoke from destroyed buildings, and a bee flying past the glass of the window, fleeing the carnage and destruction. Marinette sympathized with the bee, time was running out to save her friend and just like that bee, there was nothing she could do against something so much stronger than her.


	6. Chapter 6: Round Two

Chapter 6: Round Two

Master Fu stared grimly at the news. How could it have gotten this bad? What had happened to Tigress and La Peon? Had they been killed? Or had they been forced to retreat?

His brown eyes turned to Wayzz, "Can you sense them?"

Wayzz nodded, "I can sense Tigress, it's faint but there."

"What about La Peon?" Fu asked, concern clear in his voice.

"I can just barely sense it, it seems as though she's in a worse condition than Tigress is." Wayzz let out a small hum, "they appear to be near Françoise Dupont High School."

A small smile pulled at his lips, "Let's get going!" The man stood up with a little struggle, "Wayzz! Shell On!" A green light engulfed the old man, replacing his Hawaiian button up with green samurai Armor, a green circular hat, black baggy pants, and green steel-toed boots.

A smile appeared on the Jade turtles Face. Filled with newfound strength, he ran to the nearest window and made he jumped to the nearest building. Experience driving him, he basically flew across the rooftops leading to Françoise Dupont High School.

Once there Jade turned his eyes to the surrounding areas. He could see Helicopters circle around the smoke and destruction farther out in the city. A frown returned to his face, "How did it come to this?"

Movement caught his eye, causing him to turn toward the sight. What he saw surprised him, inside of the Dupain bakery, on the second floor, sat five people. Two of which he knew personally, and three he had at least seen throughout his daily life. Though it was hard to see, Tigress was resting against a couch, head angled up toward the roof and La Peon was sitting on the couch with Adrien Agreste applying an Ice Pack to her ribs.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng meanwhile was gazing out the window, probably at the Destruction that was facing the city she had been living in her whole life. Jade stroked his beard, Could Tigress get back up to fight? Or was she too injured to fight?

Precisely at that moment, Marinette glanced up at the sky and noticed him. She tilted her head at him before turning toward Tigress, who had begun moving again minutes prior. The hero gazed out of the window for a second before meeting Jade's gaze, a smile graced her lips. She turned to her niece and asked something before turning back around and mouthing one word to the Turtle.

"Balcony!"

Jade quickly got the point and jumped over several roofs, and landed on the balcony. It was very well put together, with a small rose garden just over the railing, a series of plants on a shelf closer to the chimney, a wooden table with a watering can, and a small chair and blanket for sitting in the nice Parisian air.

Just as Jade had finished scanning his surroundings, the nearby trapdoor opened, revealing an exhausted Tigress.

Jade opened his mouth to speak but was stopped when Tigress raised a hand, "Before you start, we got the shit kicked out of us."

Jade crossed his arms, "How bad?"

"I have a small concussion," She paused, looking down through the glass of the trapdoor, "La Peon can't go back into action, her injuries are way worse than mine."

Jade brought a hand to his chin, "This is very bad." His gaze found itself out at the city, smoke, and fire on the horizon, "We need some kind of an advantage."

Tigress' expression changed, a small smile pulling at her lips, "What if… we brought in more Miraculous?"

Jade shook his head, and began to pace around the balcony, "I'm against the idea, we can't risk anything more than what we already have."

"Master!" Tigress pointed to the floor of the balcony, "La Peon is too injured to fight, and you're too old to even be in your suit right now!" Tigress then took a deep breath, and brought her arms to her sides, "I'm not saying that we need to bring in an overwhelming amount of miraculous, just one to tip the scales!"

jade stopped pacing, turning his head toward his friend, "Your niece, I presume?"

"H-huh?" Tigress stuttered.

"You want your niece with you, don't you?" Jade asked, a knowing gaze glued to the hero in front of him.

"I-I guess you're right," Tigress slumped her shoulders and turned her head down in embarrassment.

A kind hand met his shoulder, "Don't be embarrassed, your niece has all the qualities of a wielder." A kind gaze meeting Tigress', "My only worry is that we're rushing this decision."

"All I worry about is that we don't have the miraculous that she'll need," Tigress responded.

"Oh, she does." Jade began, "While she would've made an amazing Ladybug, she'll still make a great Bee."

A smile pierced Tigress' exhausted face, "I'll give her a pep talk, you get the miraculous."

The turtle nodded before jumping from the roof, and Tigress watched him until he had disappeared behind the endless sea of rooftops. A defeated sigh escaping her lips, she hadn't wanted it to turn out this way. She didn't want Marinette fighting on the frontlines of a war that has already taken so much. But here she was! About to give her niece a pep talk about being a superhero… yay!

This was going to be fun!

With a small huff, Tigress turned on her heel and made her way down the trapdoor, through Marinette's bedroom, and all the way back into the living room. All the while thinking of the perfect way to get Sabine's approval to let her daughter fight against two supervillains.

When Tigress arrived back into the living room she noticed something, the absence of Sabine and Adrien. Marinette had taken Adriens position next to La Peon, watching over her, and making sure that the hero didn't go crazy if she woke up.

Tigress made her way over to the brunette, "Where'd Adrien and Sabine go?"

Glancing away from the hero she was caring for, Marinette met Tigress' gaze, "They went to find another ice pack, this one is starting to thaw."

Tigress moved her gaze to the window, noticing the form of Jade returning. Here it goes, the tiger thought to herself, "So… Marinette, you like superheroes right?"

Marinette tilted her head sideways, "Why are you asking me this?"

Tigress tensed, "I'm asking you because…," The hero let out a frustrated huff, "Because, I need someone to fight by my side." Tigress turned her gaze to her suffering partner, "Pea can't fight because of her current condition." Her gaze turned back to Marinette, "And the other holder can't fight due to his age, which means that you're the best option."

Marinette ducked her head, "But why me? What makes me the best choice?"

Tigress knelt down and grabbed her niece by the shoulders, "You're courageous, brave, intelligent, and a hard worker!" Tigress picked the girl up, hands still on her shoulders, "That's the perfect combination for a superhero!"

Marinette's memory looked back to when she had first met Beetle, how she had been tied up and left in the elements. Her memory turned to look at how she had gotten out, how she had managed to break the bonds and escape her captors.

Tigress watched as the girl's gaze changed from a nervous gaze to one of confidence. Marinette turned her gaze to the hero and nodded, "Ok, what do you need me to do?"

A muffled thump above the two gave Tigress her answer, "Follow me." The two made their way up into Marinette's bedroom and from there up to the balcony above her bed.

Once they had made their way to the balcony, Jade smiled at the girl, "Greeting, Marinette."

Marinette's jaw dropped in surprise, "You're the person I saw on the roof!"

"Indeed," Jade responded with a smile, "I am glad to see that you'll be the next holder of the Bee Miraculous."

Marinette tilted her head once more, "Miraculous?"

Jade held up his wrist, revealing a turtle themed bracelet around his wrist, "A miraculous is a piece of jewelry that gives us our powers, for me, it's this bracelet, and for you, it will be this comb."

Jade handed the girl a brown candle box with indecipherable red text on it, Jade smiled at the girl, "Open it, and it will explain everything."

After a second of hesitation, Marinette grabbed the top of the box and tilted it open. Immediately after, a bright yellow light blinded the three, a small squeak from Marinette followed soon after. A sphere of light began to hover over the box eventually forming a giant, fuzzy, bee.

The bee bowed at the shocked girl before her, "How may I serve you, my queen?"

"A giant bee?" Marinette asked in shock.

Tigress stepped forward, "Not a bee, she is a Kawami the magical creatures that give the miraculous their powers."

"I can give you the power to immobilize your opponents!" Pollen told her chosen with an excited tone.

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "How?"

Pollen smiled at the bewildered girl, "First you'll need to transform, after that you can use whatever weapon you have and say the word Swarm to send an entire swarm of bees at your opponent, immobilizing them."

"Well, then how do I transform?" Marinette asked, obviously struggling to keep up.

"Say the words, Bug On, and I will be taken into the miraculous to help you on your mission."

Tigress stepped forward, "I'll explain everything else on the way, you ready?"

Marinette glanced at the comb inside her palm, a determined gaze in her eyes, "I'm ready!" Clipping the comb into her hair, Marinette said the magic words, "Pollen, Bug on!" and with that, a bright yellow light surrounded the girl.

Gunshots echoed throughout the streets of Paris as the Police Nationale battled the Akuma in absence of heroes. They had made initial contact on Boulevard de Courcelles but had been pushed further and further back until a short battle at the Arc de Triomphe. Many were injured when the Arc itself collapsed, many more when Beetle had rejoined the struggle.

Throughout Avenue George V, Beetle had softened up the Police Nationale so badly that it had deformed into a general retreat across the river to their better-defended areas.

"I'm out!" An officer yelled after firing the entirety of his ammo at the increasingly large Akuma

"Holy Shit! How much can this thing take?" Another yelled after witnessing the absence of damage.

Roger, who had been fighting the Akuma for about an hour at this point turned to his comrades, "Fall back across the bridge!"

The Akuma roared in irritation, swatting helicopters out the sky and kicking cars out of his way. While the Police Nationale had planned to stop the Akuma at Pont de l'Alma but so far the Akuma had been too much for the law enforcement could handle.

Upon the order, one of the officers jumped into his patrol car and began to speed down the cleared bridge. Beetle had other ideas: jumping from one of the arches, the villain managed to land on the windshield crawl over to the window and sent his fist through the glass. Knocking out the Cop, causing the car to collide with the railing, and sending Beetle flying a few feet.

As Beetle picked himself back up a car sped past him and toward the opposite side of the bridge. Reaching into his vest, Beetle pulled out a small net with weights and threw it at the speeding car. The rope instantly wrapped around the wheel of the car and immobilized the wheel, causing the cop to lose control of the car, and send it rolling down the bridge.

Beetle's lips curled with a smile, "This is fun."

"Don't get too carried away Beetle," Hawkmoth warned from the new earpiece Tikki had made for him, "We need to get Stoneheart to the Eiffel Tower, and I need to make my speech."

Beetle frowned, "Way to spoil the fun." As Stoneheart slowly stomped past the villain, Beetle let out a long sigh. Does hawkmoth always have to spoil the fun?

A whine from the captured reporter brought a smile back to Beetle's face, At least I have that. While Alya obviously knew that the heroes had been defeated she had resorted to being as annoying as humanly possible. The villains found it funny, she found it sad.

Pain suddenly erupted in the back of Beetle's head as something collided with him, "OW! What the hell?"

As the villain turned around his jaw almost dropped. In front of him were two heroes, one of them looking like a worn out, exhausted, and pissed off tigress. The other looking like an equally pissed, but not so exhausted Bee

Beetle turned his eyes to the new-Bee. Her suit covered her from the neck down. The top was black, a V underlining her breasts followed by another V of black. From then on, the suit was yellow save for the two stripes of black on her legs and her black kitten-heeled boots. She had black fuzz cuffs wound around her ankles, and yellow fuzz cuffs wound around her wrists just above her black gloves. Her hair was tied back into pigtails with yellow ribbons, and the pigtails themselves were striped black and yellow with a pointed end similar to that of a bee's stinger. A mask covered her blue eyes, black over her eyes, and yellow beneath them. She had a scepter attached two her back and a pair of nearly transparent wings.

Beetle turned his gaze back to the lead hero, "Welcome back Tigress, I hope your head doesn't hurt too much." The villain taunted, collecting himself with a grin on his face.

"Don't get too high a mighty Beetle, you got lucky last time!"

Beetle quirked an eyebrow, "Oh really?" He gestured to the two heroes beside her, "Who are those two? Junior heroes? Interns?"

"Their.." Tigress began, taking a few steps closer to her enemy, "None of your business."

Beetle crossed his arms, "Lady, my business is with whoever I want it to be with."

The earpiece in beetle's ear clicked on once more, Hawkmoths voice speaking with excitement "buy as much time as you can, Stonehearts almost to where he needs to be."

Beetle gazed down at his feet and smiled, picking up a baton. He gazed at the three heroes, "Come at me."

Within seconds Pont de l'Alma became a battlefield once more, the two forces clashing at amazing speeds. Tigress grabbed her whip and began to swing it with precise strikes at her enemy, hitting him on his cheek, thigh, and left arm.

Beetle quickly remedied that however, on the next swing that came at him Beetle sidestepped the strike and grabbed the cord itself, wrapping it around his arm, "This seems familiar doesn't it?" Not giving the woman a moment to speak, the villain turned on his heel and began to spin. This caused the hero to lose her balance and be sent flying off of the bridge and into the river below.

Beetle now turned his gaze to the rookie and grinned, "I'll give you two one chance, turn away and never come back."

The bee stepped forward, "Fat chance!"

As the two began to circle each other Marigold thought back on her opponents fighting style, at the stadium he closed the distance between himself and Tigress before making any major moves, and he did so here too. Does that mean he relies on close quarters?

Beetle, with a sour look on his face, decided to begin the second round. He stopped circling the girl in front of him and charged forward. Marigold had other plans, she jumped away from the man and began to use her wings to fly out of reach.

With a sour look on his face, Beetle glared up at the flying bee, "Don't be so scared, I don't bite!"

Marigold grabbed the scepter from behind her back, and with a sarcastic tone said, "Then I hope this doesn't."

Using her wings, the young hero dove towards Beetle and swung the scepter. Beetle attempted to block but Marigold's momentum was too much for the villain, he lost his balance and fell backward.

Picking himself back up Beetle looked down at his left hand, the cords of Tigress' whip still wrapped around it. A smile formed on the man's face, and a plan began to form within his head.

As Marigold flew around for another pass at the villain she noticed the sinister smile on his face. Beetle began to twirl around the whip like a sling and sent it flying toward his opponent, managing to wrap it around the poor girl's upper body, causing her to crash.

Beetle began to laugh, "You seriously are a rookie, aren't you?" he began to walk toward the captured bee in front of him, "Rule number one of fighting against an opponent, never turn your back." As he grew closer to Marigold he noticed the girl was trying to wiggle to her scepter, "Don't try it, rookie, you're just wasting your energy."

"Is she?" a familiar voice asked the villain. Turning to the source of the voice, Beetle's mildly pissed off gaze met Tigress' completely enraged one.

"How many times are we gonna go through this Tigress, I've beaten you twice now."

Tigress gave a small smile at the villain, "You know what they say, third time's the charm."

As the two began to brawl for the third time that day, Marigold continued to struggle with the whip, finally managing to worm out a single arm from the cords grip. With that Marigold continued to crawl and grasp for her nearby scepter.

Meanwhile, Tigress blocked a kick from her opponent with one arm and sent a punch in the jaw with the other. Stumbling backward, Beetle used a nearby car to gain his balance, "As much as I would love to say that I'm enjoying this, I am on a tight timetable and this is really putting me behind schedule."

Tigress gritted her teeth, "What? Gotta fight the rest of Paris?"

Beetle narrowed his eyes, "No actually, I have a-"

"Swarm!"

The two opponents turned to look at Marigold, who had freed herself from the whip's grasp. She had grabbed her scepter and had said the words, an endless swarm of bees had begun flying towards the villain. With each one that collided with the villain a small bit of honey materialized, quickly encasing the villain in an endless amount of honey, immobilizing him.

Tigress turned away from Beetle, "Get going, you'll need to recharge."

Marigold's jaw almost hit the floor, "But what about getting Beetle's miraculous?"

Tigress continued down the bridge, "Not our top priority."

"But-"

"Marigold!" Tigress yelled out, gaze firmly glued to the rookie, "Believe me, I would love nothing more than to take Beetle out of play, but right now we have to fight for the people of Paris, we'll get beetle another day."

Marigold looked down at her feet, "O-Ok."

Tigress gave Marigold a pat on the back, "You did good, but right now it's time for me and Jade to finish this fight, get going and stay safe."

With a nod, Marigold used her wings once more, leaving the battle to the two older heroes. She grabbed her whip from the ground, and cracked her knuckles, "Let's do this!" With those three words, Tigress began to make her way toward the Akuma, Toward the Eiffel Tower.

While Tigress and Marigold had been fighting Beetle, Jade had turned his focus to Stoneheart. unsurprisingly the Police Nationale hadn't gotten any farther in slowing down the Akuma and had managed to almost quadruple his power and size. By the time Jade had arrived at the scene the Akuma was almost a third of the Eiffel Towers height.

Jade decided to land next to Roger, as the man was the leader of the Police Nationale, "Sir, I can't help but notice how bad the situation has gotten."

Rodger, who hadn't turned to look at the hero as of yet waved off the hero, "We've got everything under control citizen, proceed to the evacuation zone."

Jade gave a look of confusion at the taller man before gazing at the Akuma. It was currently struggling to get through the now thin space between buildings on Rue de Monttessuy. Police Nationale was deployed on the neighboring Avenue de la Bourdonnais, ready to fire on the closing in Akuma.

Roger grabbed the radio on his vest, "Fire on sight."

"Mr. Raincomprix!" Jade protested, "You cannot possibly be this unobservant!"

Finally turning to the old man next to him, Roger was taken back by the man's appearance, "W-who are you?"

"You can call me The Jade Turtle." Jade informed, "Fighting supervillains like this one is my specialty."

Roger, still a little taken aback turned back toward the Akuma, "What do you propose we do?"

Jade began to stroke his beard, "Let him get into the Champ de Mars, I'll slow him down from there."

Roger almost began to laugh, "And why should we do that?"

Jade gave a large sigh, and turned toward the officer, "With every hit he receives, he gets stronger! Would you rather risk the lives of several hundred people who can get crushed by a falling building, or the Eiffel tower?"

Roger thought a second before grabbing his radio once again, "Fall back, don't shoot at the giant!" He turned to Jade, "Don't make me regret this Jade."

With a small nod, Jade was alone. He began to make his way into one of the trees inside the Champ de Mars, using his suit as camouflage and a chance to figure out the Akumatized object was.

Going off of what he had seen already, the Akuma had grabbed an innocent girl with his left hand and his right had been closed at all times. So the top priority was getting the girl out of harm's way, after that they can try and get the other hand open.

With a thump, Tigress landed on the branch next to Jade's, "So, you got the Police Nationale to back off, good job."

"It wasn't easy, Rodger doesn't think we can do this," Jade informed.

"So, what's the game plan?" Tigress asked upon feeling the weight of the Akuma's footsteps.

"First things first, we need to get that girl out of harm's way."

"How are we going to go that?"

"Not sure yet." Jade answered honestly, "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

Tigress grabbed her chin, "After that?"

Jade turned to his partner with a smile, "I believe that the Akumatized object is in his other fist if we can somehow open it I can use magic to keep the Akuma from spreading."

Tigress began to stretch her arms, "Alright, let's do this!"

Within the next minute, Stoneheart entered the Park and was attacked by a flurry of strikes from Tigress' whip and several powerful hits from Jade's shield. Stoneheart attempted to hit Tigress but with the surrounding terrain, she was able to evade very easily.

Meanwhile, Jade circled around the Akuma and began throwing his shield at the Akuma's neck, back, and behind the knee. All the while hoping that they would be able to find a way to get the brunette out of harm's way.

Tigress, with a new idea, used her whip to repel the giant Akuma and climb onto its face. "Hey, ugly up here!"

With divided attention, the Akuma tried to swat at the hero on its face but with both hands clasped into fists he did little more than punching himself in the face, Stoneheart roared in rage, "GET OFF!" Jade, realizing Tigress' goal made ceased his attacks and began to make his way back toward the front of the Akuma.

Tigress smiled, noticing Jade making his way back toward her. Carefully made her way toward Stoneheart's eye, balled her hand into a fist, and began punching the Akuma's iris. The Akuma screamed in pain, and let go of the girl in an attempt to grab the hero. Jade caught the girl in his arms and fell back into the trees. Tigress meanwhile jumped off the Akuma's face and continued her strikes on the Akuma, causing him to scream in annoyance.

Alya looked down at the short hero who had saved her, "I'm alright, thank you."

"You're welcome," Jade began with a smile, "Next time, stay at a safe distance."

"Oh I will." the brunette responded with a shaky laugh, "I think I've been a little too close to death for my age."

"Jade, a little help please," Tigress yelled, annoyance clear in her voice. Jade nodded to the now safe girl before turning back to stoneheart.

As the turtle made his way closer to the battle he watched the closed fist, an idea beginning to cross his mind, "Tigress, restrain his arm!"

Tigress dodged another swing at her, grabbed her whip and swung it at her opponent's open hand, catching it by the wrist.

At the same moment, Jade threw his shield at the Akuma's jaw. "STOP IT!" The irritated Akuma yelled out.

Stoneheart tried to grab at the turtle with his left hand, but with it restricted due to a whip, tree, and a hero pulling against it, the Akuma wasn't able to grab at the hero before another strike reached his jaw.

Stoneheart, exhausted from the fighting, annoyed, and just a little done with this whole supervillain thing, opened his right hand and reached out toward the hero. Taking this as his chance, Jade threw his shield at the Akuma once more and made a break for the nearby object.

Stoneheart, who had fallen backward began to reach out toward the turtle, "NO!"

Jade stepped on the corrupted poem, releasing the butterfly and causing the rocks of Stoneheart to collapse into the unconscious form of Ivan.

Tigress fell backward, onto the grass and took a deep breath, "It's over."

Alya let out a short excited yell, "Yes! That was so cool!"

Roger took off his hat, eyes wide at the now gone supervillain, "They really did it!"

Le Paon, Adrien, Sabine, and Marinette smiled at the television screen, "It's over!"

Jade grabbed the Akuma with both hands and let out a pained gasp, "Time to go!"

Gabriel Agreste looked down at his tablet with a dissatisfied gaze, "They did it."

Beatle gazed at Eiffel Tower, "They did it." He climbed up the nearby buildings roof and turned back to the tower, "This is going to be fun."


	7. Chapter 7: Back Again

"Three days ago those who are now being called the 'Miraculous Team' had stopped a supervillain named Stone heart from destroying the Eiffel Tower," Marinette sighed as the newscaster continued her spiel about the battle the previous week. She turned her gaze back toward her homework, but her mind kept wandering.

All the crazy things she imagined when being one of a four-person superhero team, the things that happened to new heroes in comic books Alya talked about, none of it happened. There hasn't been any training, there wasn't a sort of initiation, there wasn't even a pat on the back.

There was only the news…

After the fight, she had been sent off to the sidelines to both recover and let the better-trained heroes, Tigress and Jade, to finish off the Akuma. She didn't mind it, Paris was in danger and her reason to be there was all but over… she would have only gotten in the way. At least she had gotten a couple of good hits on Beetle.

"Thinking about the fight again, my Queen?" Pollen spoke from above the computer.

"I can't help it," Marinette shrugged, her bluebell eyes turning up toward her tiny friend, "It's something hard to forget."

Pollen descended from her place above the screen and stopped just in front of the girl's nose, "I never said it was a bad thing I think you did great for your first time!"

The girl's head tilted slightly, "What do you mean?"

"I mean you managed to fight head to head against a supervillain much stronger than yourself," Pollen was vibrating with excitement, or was it happiness? Marinette wasn't sure, "I am so proud of you!"

Marinette smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by another voice, "She's right you know." The Blackett turned her head towards the voice and was met by Tigress. The familiar woman was sitting down on Marinette's chaise a toothy smile on her face, "You did better than even Jade hoped you would, it's almost as if you were made to have a miraculous!"

Marinette turned away from her homework, now completely sure that she wasn't going to get anything done, "I'm at your service."

"Now, there was something else I was supposed to tell you," Tigress' smile faded, "It's about the enemy."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "What about them"

"They hold two miraculous, I'm pretty sure you've already made that observation," Tigress began, "The two they hold are the Moth and Ladybug miraculous, which has caused a large sort of imbalance in the world."

Marinette glanced at Pollen before turning back toward the hero in front of her, "What do you mean?"

Tigress rubbed the back of her neck for a moment, "Let's see…" she snapped her fingers before pointing toward the girl in front of her, "Miraculous sometimes function in pairs, one represents one thing while the other represents the other thing, make sense?"

"A little…"

"Okay, so now that we have that squared away," Tigress stood up and made her way to a nearby mirror, "Beetle has the Ladybug miraculous, also known as the miraculous of creation."

Marinette crossed her arms, "So then where are the miraculous of destruction?"

"Safe with Jade," Tigress quickly responded

Marinette tilted her head, "Why don't we use it to even the odds against Beetle?"

"We don't feel comfortable using the miraculous until we have Beetle taken down." Tigress reasoned, her gaze left her reflection and made its way toward Marinette, "But I think you'll help us in that regard!"

Marinette tilted her head once more, "What do you mean?"

"Marinette," Tigress sighed, she moved away from the mirror and made her way toward the girl, "I know how you feel, out of place and a little overwhelmed." The hero knelt toward the girl and looked her in the eye, "I was there too… and I always felt like there was no one to talk to, but here I am giving the next hero a pep talk."

Marinette smiled at the hero in front of her, "If I need someone to talk to, I'll go to you Tigress."

The hero nodded, "Is there anything I could help you with right now?"

"Do you know anything about physics?" Marinette asked Tigress with a sheepish smile.

"EW! NO!" Tigress stood up and was out of the room almost immediately, leaving Marinette and Pollen laughing cackling with laughter.

—

"You still awake?"

Adrien's gaze left the homework in front of him, a smile pulled at his lips, "Felix! Your back!"

The older blonde shrugged, "What can I say, when I saw my nephew was in the thick of the fighting with a villain, I couldn't help but feel concerned."

Adrien shrugged and turned back toward his homework, "All I did was help get the Miraculous Team away from the action when they were too wounded to fight," He didn't see Felix raised an eyebrow.

"I'm curious?" Felix began, "The news could only get so much, so what was it like from your perspective?"

Adrien didn't respond for a moment as he stared toward his homework. He sighed and turned back toward his Uncle, "Well first things first we were trying to find a way to get our friend out of danger, but when we got to the stadium, she was in the villains grasp."

—

Marinette yawned and stretched her hands out above her head, she always hated mornings. She rubbed her eyes and yawned again, why was homework so hard?

She made her way into the classroom and sat down in her seat behind a slumped over Adrien. She crossed her arms over her desk and attempted to get another five minutes of sleep.

"Hey Marinette," Alya greeted, "How'd you sleep?"

Marinette replied with a grumble.

"Look like Adrien didn't get much either…"

Marinette opened a bluebell eye and glared at Alya for a moment before turning her head toward Adrien. The blonde was hunched over just like she had been only moments before, his back rose and fell slowly.

Marinette turned back toward Alya, "Is he asleep?"

"Yep!" Nino answered, grabbing the two girls attention, "He mentioned something about a person named Felix, but was asleep in a snap."

"Okay, class, time to begin the day!" Miss Bustier began, "Today we will be continuing our topic on safety, especially will the new threats in the outside world."

The class went by in a blur and before they knew it, the four of them had made it to a table in the cafeteria, they picked a seat near the corner and began to eat.

Marinette watched as the other students continued to talk about theories and questions as to what had happened the other day, and who the superheroes were. The heroine rolled her eyes, took a bite out of her macaroon, and then turned gaze toward the nearby window.

This is what she had meant last night, the talking never seemed to end. Marinette let out a small sigh and continued to eat her macaroon, maybe she could start playing music?

"Hey, Marinette?"

The girl turned to her friends and smiled, "Yes Alya?"

"Who do you think the heroes are?" Alya didn't notice her friend get stiff, "Well the bee one, the other two seemed more… experienced compared to her."

Marinette shrugged, "I don't know, your guess is as good as mine Alya."

Alya used an arm as a stand and groaned, "I just wanna know who saved me ya'know?" She turned her gaze toward the nearby window and sighed, "Maybe next time I'll throw myself into danger again…"

"Alya…" Marinette groaned, "I don't want you to get in danger again, I'm sure they'd be willing to have an interview or something…"

"But I'm not a journalist…" The girl closed her eyes.

"Why would that matter, I'm sure that they'd be willing to answer questions," Marinette responded.

"But I want to spread the word, document their answers, show the world who these heroes are!" Alya's gaze found Marinette's, "You know what I mean right?"

Marinette nodded, "I get what you mean," She took a bite out of another macaroon, "Why not start a blog?"

"That…" Alya smiled, "That seems like a good idea! I'll have to do that!"

—

"Are you sure Felix?"

The blonde in question stood before a window, his gaze glued to the Eiffel Tower. The damage from the battle was still as severe as it had been just a few days ago, "I'm sure," He turned to face his brother, "And you should be worried, it's only a matter of time before they find out."

"They won't." Gabriel countered, "They have no reason or way to know! I made sure of it!"

"We made sure of it," Felix corrected, "Don't forget that you came to me for help, don't forget that it was me who helped you, don't forget-"

"You can't lecture me, Felix!" Gabriel spoke whirling away from his pedestal and toward his brother, "You have what you have because of me! You are here because after I told you, you begged to be here beside me! You are here because of the mess you got us in!"

Felix recoiled from Gabriel, a disgusted look on his face, "The mess I got us in?"

"You know what I mean." Gabriel responded, a hint of a growl in his voice, "Now go! I have work I need to do."

Felix scowled at his brother before making his way out of the mansion. He took a long breath of fresh air when he exited from the front door, he didn't know how he ever stood the cold that always seemed to follow his brother.

The blonde shook his head and turned the corner of a sidewalk, the aroma of baked goods filled the air. He brought his hand up to check his watch and shrugged, he had time.

With a ring of a bell, Felix entered a familiar bakery, a small smile crept onto his face. A few minutes passed before he was able to get to the counter.

"Hello sir," The woman kindly spoke, "What can I get you today?"

"Just a croissant please," The woman smiled and turned to grab him a fresh one, "Thank you miss Cheng."

The woman froze for a second before turning back toward the blonde, "Felix?" He nodded, "Good lord! It's been too long! How have you been?"

Felix shrugged, "I've been better, but you know how life is."

Sabine laughed and glanced behind the blonde, never had she been so happy that business had slowed down for the day. Her gaze returned to the blonde, "How long has it been? Five? Ten?"

"Fifteen actually," Felix shrugged, "How's Bridgette?"

"She's upstairs actually," Sabine answered, a small smirk pulled at her face, "wanna talk to her?"

"I suppose so."

Sabine lifted the divider and let Felix pass, the blonde stood there, frozen for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking into the Woman's home.

Felix's feet seemed to drag on the wooden floor, each step was almost a ton. Each stair was a thousand feet. Each second stretched a thousand years why was he like this? They hadn't left on bad terms! Their lives had only gone in different paths, I mean who's to blame for that? Live has thousands of roads and paths, people often take ones that take them in different directions…

The blonde ascended to the top stairs and into the kitchen, his eyes searched the room until he saw her. She was looking away from him, her eyes glued to the TV, news of the events just days before playing on the screen.

As Felix grew closer he saw that is was an aerial view of Tigress' meeting with Beetle, and its resulting fight. The blonde inched forward until he was close enough to see the vibrant blue of her eyes.

Felix swallowed, "It's been a long time Bridgette."

The woman tensed up and turned her gaze toward the blonde, "Felix…"


	8. Chapter 8: Dreams and Plans

_Emelie's back collided against the wall, she struggled to take a breath. With an upward glance, she saw a familiar foe, one with his claws bared._

" _Where is she Le Paon!?"_

" _Hawkmoth's the one who knows that!" She heard herself responded with a cackle of laughter, "However, I do know one thing!"_

" _And what's that?" Her opponent growled._

" _That you will fall by my hand!"_

Emelie sat up with a start, sweat covered every inch of her body. She took a moment to calm her breathing, she held her hand in front of her face. It was shaking.

"What was that?" She glanced at Gabriel, who was still asleep beside her. He was just barely visible in the moonlight that shone from the window.

She slowly lifted the covers and tiptoed toward her dresser, with a glance over her shoulder she grabbed a jacket from a nearby rack and made her way toward their large bathroom. With a pale flash of light, Le Paon had left the mansion.

She flew across the rooftops, her thoughts ran as fast as she did. What was that? Who was she fighting? Was it her? Was she the one fighting the cat? What was that?

She jumped across another gap between buildings but lost her footing on a pipe and collided with the ground below her. She glared at the stars above her, an annoyed sigh. None of it made sense, what was the fight about? What about the dream?

"Need help?"

Le Paon glanced toward the voice and reeled back toward the nearest wall, Beatle was standing nearby, he had a small smile on his face.

"Why would I need your help!" She took out her fans, "What are you even doing here, Beatle!?"

The man in question shrugged, "I mean I just saw someone fall from a two-story height, but I guess I'm not allowed to feel concerned."

Le Paon took attempted to take a step toward the villain, her legs, however, disagreed. She collapsed onto one knee and attempted to take a breath, she hurt herself with that fall.

"Miraculous magic can fix almost any injury, but it takes time to heal that kind of a fall." Beatle sighed. He made his way to the hero and leaned down, "I'm not here to fight Le Peon, I'm in too good a mood for that."

The hero glanced upward, toward the villain, "What do you mean?"

"I caught up with an acquaintance that I had left years ago, got to clear up what I thought was a bad ending to our friendship." Beatle sighed once more and his eyes flashed with memories from earlier that day.

—

Felix watched as Bridgette looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow, "So your ears are pierced now?"

"Yeah," Felix's hand brushed against the black earring, "It's a thing in America."

"Sure." Bridgette turned her eyes back toward the television, a small frown on her face.

"So, how have you been?" Felix asked, making his way toward the couch, but not taking a seat.

"I've been fine."

"What do you do for work nowadays?" Felix asked the woman.

"Well, I'm supposed to be a lawyer, but things haven't panned out too well on that front." Bridgette turned to him, "You can take a seat, it's fine."

Felix did so, "Is it okay to ask why things haven't panned out?"

"Let's just say I've been too busy and work hasn't been coming in." She pointed toward him, "So, what about you? How have you been."

"I would much rather be in America right now, Gabriel is such a drama queen right now." Felix sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "He wants help with a little project but doesn't listen to anything I have to say, so I walked here to get a bit of fresh air."

Bridgette laughed, "Hasn't Gabriel always been like that?"

"Now that I think about it," Felix brought a hand to his chin, stroking it as if he was deep in thought, "He's worse now!"

The two bellowed with laughter.

—

"Good for you," Le Paon responded with a roll of her eyes, she attempted to get up but Beatle made sure she stayed down for a moment longer.

"What about you? Why are you here?"

The peacock froze, the dream flashed through her mind. The fight, her words, it all seemed off, but familiar as well? But it wasn't her who was fighting! Was it?

"I had a dream…" Le Paon finally spoke, "It was something like a memory, but… not mine…"

"Sounds like you don't know what you saw," Beatle sighed, "I know how that feels."

Le Paon raised an eyebrow, "You do?"

"I do," Beatle repeated, "I have the same kind of dreams, one that follows someone else's adventures."

He raised his hands above his head and looked at the moon, "Alright, with that I believe it's time for me to go to sleep."

Le Paon slowly stood up with a wince, her hand gently grasping at her ribcage. She watched as Beatle slowly walked out of the Alleyway, he whistled a song to himself.

The villain stopped and turned back toward the blonde hero, "Remember Le Paon, I won't help you next time."

"Same here," The blonde smiled.

With a small grunt, Beatle jumped up toward the roof and disappeared. Le Paon in the meanwhile traveled further into the alleyway and hid behind a dumpster before turning back to her civilian self with a wince.

"Oh, Emilie!" Duusu screeched in alarm, flying around her chosen with the speed of a cheetah, "Are you okay!?"

The blonde sighed, "Are they memories?"

The kawami slowed to a stop, "Huh?"

"Are my dreams… or… nightmares?" She didn't know what to call them, "Are they memories?"

Duusu stayed silent, her gaze glued toward her chosen, "We need to talk to Master Fu."

"Let's talk to him then!" Emelie attempted to stand up but has pushed back with the meager strength of the Kawami.

"NO!" Duusu screeched, "We need everyone there! We need to wait until morning and gather all of the heroes."

Emelie raised an eyebrow at her Kawami, "Why do we need to wait?"

"Trust me," Tears were pulling at her eyes, "I'm just trying my best…"

"Alright," The blonde smiled, "I can't stay mad at you right now, we'll see him in the morning." Emelie stood up with a wince, "Let's get home!"

Nearby a spotted villain smiled as a pale blue light filled the alleyway underneath him. He had new information to report into Hawkmoth.

—

Beatle soon found himself in Hawkmoth's sanctum. The light from the moon made an eerie glow, one that illuminated Beatle's face from below.

Why did he and Le Paon have those dreams? He asked himself. Were they his, or someone else's?

The tapping of a cane was heard behind him, "You wanted to see me, Felix?"

Beatle turned to face Hawkmoth, a smile returned to his face, "Didn't get a lot of sleep, did you, Gabriel?"

"That doesn't matter," The supervillain shook his head, "Why did you ask to meet with me on such short notice?"

"It's about Le Paon." Beatle began, he saw Hawkmoth straighten slightly, "She's having weird dreams, I heard her talking about it to herself just a few hours ago."

Hawkmoth held his cane behind his back and made his way to the front of the room with a snail's pace, "What kind of dreams?"

"Dreams that seem like memories of a previous peacock," Beatle answered, his gaze finding Hawkmoth's in the pale moonlight.

Hawkmoth's eyes narrowed and he turned to glare at the moon, "Things are proceeding faster than I expected."

Beatle raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"You're having the same dreams, aren't you" Hawkmoth looked over his shoulder at Beatle, "One of another Ladybug, one that battled against me and my Akuma."

"The peacock was present as well," Beatle's gaze didn't leave Gabriel's, "What is going on Gabriel?"

The supervillain looked back toward the moon, "It's nothing but a side effect, one that will be washed away soon enough, all I need is the Cat Miraculous."

"A side effect from when you got the Ladybug Miraculous?" Beatle crossed his arms over his chest, "You're walking a fine line, Gabriel."

Gabriel whirled around, "I KNOW THE RISKS! I HAD MY REASONS! I FOUGHT FOR YEARS AND HERE I AM CLOSE TO VICTORY!"

"You sent the world into imbalance due to your actions!" Beatle protested, "If you don't fix this mess then the universe will balance itself out! You, Gabriel, need to get the Cat miraculous!"

"I KNOW!" Gabriel howled. The room stayed quiet for a moment, Gabriel turned back toward Beetle, "It's not going to be easy, however, the guardian is smart enough to know that the best candidate is not the safest."

"How does he know that?" Felix questioned the supervillain, "Don't tell me he knows your identity!"

"No," Gabriel began, "Let's just say we've had run-ins in the past, but we can't go directly after each other as of now."

"As of now?"

"I will eventually be able to track down his true location and win the war," Gabriel turned fully toward Beetle, "Our main concern as of right now is evening the odds of out Miraculous wielders."

"How would we do that?" Beetle asked. In their time fighting the miraculous holders both in and out of the shadows he had noticed one thing, the heroes always seemed to get the upper hand while using their numbers to the greatest efficiency.

"We would try and separate one from the group." Hawkmoth replied, "Ideally, it would be the Peacock Miraculous, we would have another form of remote attack and it would become the most effective form of reinforcement."

"In what way?" Beetle circled Hawkmoth and began to stare at the moon.

"The way I can create villains from afar, she can create a powerful form that can support the powers of the ones that receive it," Beetle's gaze found Hawkmoth's, "For me, it could be a giant moth, for you… a giant ladybug."

Beetle laughed, "How threatening it that."

"It is not about how threatening it is," the supervillain gowled, "It is about catching the enemy off guard, striking them when they least expect it!"

"So, we're going for Le Paon," Beetle repeated to himself before turning back to the skylight, "How should I go about it, she's not exactly an easy person to catch.

"Like I said before, try and separate her from the rest of the group, you should be able to overpower her if you stick to close-quarters combat." Hawkmoth reasoned, "However, whatever you do, don't wound Le Paon after you have the brooch."

"Why this could put a powerful enemy out of combat for a while," Beetle began, "They could also help reveal the identities of-"

"JUST DO AS I SAY!"

The room went quiet, and the only thing that could be heard was a small beeping sound from Beetle's earrings, Tikki has had enough.

"Spots Off," He spoke with a sigh.

A pale pink light filled the chamber, the small-spotted form of Tikki fell into Felix's waiting hands.

"Get some rest, Felix," Hawkmoth turned back toward the window, glaring at the moon once more, "You'll need it."

"I will." Felix turned and made his way to the elevator before descending back into the main house.

"...ette…"

Felix glanced down toward the sleeping Kawami. She had been getting worn from the frequent visions that he has been having, same as him. Memories from a different time, a different place, a different ladybug.

They entered the workroom, Felix made his way to the closest window and let Tikki bathe in the moonlight.

The worn-out Kawami smiled when she felt the moon's light on her. Felix smiled, she was like a fairy who loved the nights. Maybe she was awaiting the release of the Cat Miraculous, for someone to enjoy the moonlight.

The Kawami twitched and Felix's thoughts went completely silent as he saw her utter a name.

"Marinette…"


	9. Chapter 9: A Relaxing Saturday Morning

A yawn erupted from Marigold's mouth, she wiped a tear from her eyes. They never told you how much flying would make your eyes water, but what can you do.

The flying hero sighed, they hadn't told her why she had been summoned, which wasn't a good sign.

What if they didn't believe she would be a good enough hero for them?

She shook her head from that notion, they wouldn't have chosen someone they would have doubted in the first place. Not only that but Pollen and Tigress had confirmed that she had done very well during their fight against Beetle.

There was only one thing she couldn't figure out however, how did she do it?

She pondered that thought as she flew into a nearby alleyway and transformed back into her civilian self after a few moments, letting Pollen flee to her handbag to munch on a snack Marinette had brought with her. After a minute or so the baker began to make her way out, only leaving the alleyway once she was sure she was clear.

Her mind drifted back to her previous thoughts. How was she able to fight Beetle in an almost head to head fight?

All she remembered was that when she donned the Miraculous she was acting almost on instinct, the moves that she had used weren't hers (That much was obvious) but what did that mean?

Was it from the previous user of the bee miraculous? was it something else? She shook her head once more, she could concentrate on these thoughts after her meeting with Master Fu.

The girl turned the corner of a small neighborhood and found a rather tiny massage parlor, one with the same address she had been given.

With the slightest bit of hesitation, Marinette made her way toward the door and knocked. It was a moment before she heard footsteps, almost immediately she was greeted with a short man in a Hawaiian shirt, a pair of cargo shorts, and a balding head with grey hair on the sides.

"Welcome, Marigold," The man greeted, he stepped to the side, "Step inside, please."

Marinette did so, the man closed the door behind her, "Now, you should transform back, while I and Tigress may know your identity it may be better if you were in costume with Le Paon with us."

Marinette nodded and within a moment she was Marigold once more, "Is everyone else here?"

"Yes," The man nodded, he took a step into the massage parlor before turning back toward the young hero, "Please, follow me."

She nodded and made her way inside with the man leading the way. She took the opportunity to get a sense of her surroundings.

The massage parlor smelled like what you would assume one would. Nice, warm, with relaxing smells lingering in the air. meanwhile, paintings of famous areas across the globe filled the room, it seemed that he liked traveling, or at least that's what it seemed like.

Soon the two entered the main room, in the center sat Tigress and Le Peon, there were two empty spots beside them.

Marigold quickly made her way to the spot that the man, most likely Jade Turtle, had gestured to. Almost immediately afterward Jade Turtle did the same and sat down next to Marigold.

"You must be wondering why you were summoned, Marigold." Le Paon began, a small sigh escaping her lips, "It was to talk about certain dreams I have been having as of late, and at the behest of Master fu," She gestured toward the old man, "It was decided to summon the two of you to hear this as well."

"Alright," Tigress shrugged, "What is it then?"

Le Paon glanced at Master Fu before letting out a breath, "In my dreams, I have been having what looks to be memories, of an evil Peacock user." Tigress narrowed her eyes and Marigold's head tilted slightly.

"In the dreams, I'm always surrounded by a ruined building, it looks ashy and collapsed, and I'm fighting against someone with a leather tail and claws," She glanced toward tigress, "They have a similar appearance to Tigress, but had a baton as a weapon."

Master Fu hummed, "This sounds like you were fighting Chat Noir in your dream," His gaze found the Phonograph located in the corner of the room, his thoughts were kept to himself, however.

"What is so significant about Chat Noir?" Marigold asked before she could stop herself.

Fu smiled, "The Cat miraculous is the direct counter to the Ladybug miraculous, the one Beetle has," Master Fu turned his gaze to the floor, "They are supposed to keep balance, sadly, the ladybug miraculous was taken from me in a battle just over a year ago."

"Around the time Le Paon and I were summoned," Tigress informed the group, "That can't be a coincidence."

"It is not, Tigress," Master Fu answered, "I was able to find the two of you, and we had been fighting to regain it from Beetle from behind the scenes. That was until the kidnapping of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Chloe Bourgeois, and Sabrina Raincomprix."

"Which was then the first step into the limelight," Marigold concluded. She turned her attention back to Fu, "If the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous are supposed to keep balance than what happens when only one is active, like right now?"

"There's more luck in the world, however when bad luck strikes it will be a larger result than if the two were in balance." Master Fu informed the girl.

"Think of it like this," Tigress began, "Good luck, you find eighteen euro on the ground." She waited for Margold to nod before continuing, "Bad luck, you step on a nail."

"Why don't we use the cat miraculous then?" Marigold reasoned, "We need to bring balance back right?"

"The problem isn't bringing it out to someone, it's delivering it to someone who can keep it safe," Master Fu sighed, "I have someone in mind but whether their safe or not is another story."

Marigold opened her mouth to ask another question when an explosion echoed through the sky. The four glanced at each other before making their way outside, when they did smoke filled the air.

Marigold tracked the smoke through the sky and down toward the ground.

Her eyes went wide.

"Isn't that…" Tigress began.

"The Dupain-Cheng bakery?"

Before she could think her feet left the ground and she was flying away toward the source of the smoke.

She flew through the air like a bullet. Her bluebell eyes continued to watch as another explosion went off just outside the bakery, "NO!" She screeched.

Someone heavy suddenly grabbed onto her leg and dragged began to drag her to the ground. She could feel it dragging against the floor, she turned her head to find what it was. She found the form of a man with one of two squid arms wrapped around her ankle.

The octopus man used extended his other arm tentacle and smacked her to the ground.

The air was knocked out of Marigold as she felt the street crack beneath her. Within a moment she stood back up, needless to say, was happy that the Miraculous protected them.

A laugh emanated from behind her, Margold glanced over her shoulder to find who it was. Her eyes narrowed when she found Beetle, a cocky smile adorned his lips.

"Good morning Marigold, I hope I'm not ruining this beautiful Saturday morning." He cackled.

Marigold pointed a finger at the villain, "It will be even more beautiful with you behind bars!"

Marigold lept toward the man but suddenly found herself inside the bakery with glass all around her. She sat up and saw the Akuma staring her down, it began to close the distance.

Marigold pushed herself up but a burning sensation in her ankle caused her to screamed in pain and fall back down to the floor, she looked down at her left ankle and cringed. It was dislocated.

"Oh my!" A familiar voice yelled out. The injured hero glanced to her right and saw her father running toward her.

With a glance toward the Akuma Marigold held a hand out toward Tom, "Stand back! It's not safe!"

"Neither are you!" He responded he reached and carried the hero bridal style out of combat.

—

Adrien ducked beneath the debris that was flung by another explosion, "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?"

One second he was doing a photo shoot and the next there was a massive battle happening. He looked out toward the shattered bakery window, he had seen one of the heroes get thrown inside.

His gaze turned toward the battle happening in the street and amongst the smoke. The peacock, Le Paon was currently fighting against Beetle. He couldn't tell who was winning, they seemed evenly matched. Meanwhile, Tigress was struggling to close the distance between her and the… tentacle monster... thing.

Luckily for Marigold, they had arrived just after she had been thrown through the window. He ducked as a tentacle was sent flying over his head.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw what was left of the photoshoot running the opposite way of the battle. He turned his attention back toward the bakery, stood up and sprinted toward the bakery door.

He quickly entered and closed the door behind him, with a quick glance of the room he saw Marigold with an icepack on her ankle at the back of the shop.

He made his way to her, finding Tom and Sabine "Is she doing okay?"

Sabine shook her head, "She dislocated her ankle, we're doing our best to treat it right now but, there's not much we can do without a proper doctor."

Another window was smashed in by the battle, the group of four glanced at the shattered windows, "We should move!"

"No!" Marigold told them, "I just need it to stop hurting, then I can join the fight again!"

"Marigold," Tom warned, "You are in no condition to stand, you wouldn't survive a minute out there!"

A loud crash made them all turn.

Le Paon was slumped against a cracked wall opposite of yet another shattered window. She had a cut on her cheek, blood dripping toward the floor.

She rolled to the right and dodged a cat-like pounce from Beetle, one that destroyed cases of baked goods.

Le Paon stood back up with unsteady legs and raised her fists in front of her face, prepared to continue the fight.

Adrien's body tensed when he saw Beetle's sinister gaze found those behind the peacock.

"Well, Marigold…" He began, "This is where you ran," He shrugged and turned his gaze back toward Le Paon, "Let's finish this, Peacock!"

Adrien watched, paralyzed, as the two charged at each other. Le Paon's graceful strikes against her opponent seemed to have little effect as Beetle dropped to the floor and knocked her legs out from under her.

Before the model knew what happened, Le Paon was being held in the air by Beetle, his hand closed around her throat and her hands struggling to free herself.

"Nothing personal, Le Paon," Beetle began with a small frown, "But Hawkmoth requires your miraculous."

The man reached forward and grabbed at the brooch on the woman's chest, but let go of her and stumbled forward with a loud crack of metal.

"You won't take her miraculous!" Adrien yelled out, a rod of metal from the destroyed stands in his hands, "I won't let you!"

He charged forward and swung the rod at Beetle's head. The villain ducked beneath the swing and sent a right hook against the blondes cheek.

Adrien collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

"ADRIEN!" Le Paon screamed out, her hand reached out toward her son.

"Now," Beetle growled, he turned back toward the injured Peacock, "Back to business."

Le Paon lept toward him, with a ferocity only a mother could have, the two grappled against each other. Beetle sent a punch across the blonde's cheek, she returned with a knee in the stomach.

Finally, Beetle grabbed Le Paon by the hair and slammed her head against the wall, the woman fell to her knees.

With a flash of pale blue light the peacock was unmasked, Beetle frowned.

"No, no, no no no no!" His gaze found his palm, but what he saw wasn't the miraculous, it was the fury of the man who he worked for.

"HEY!"

The villain turned his gaze toward the voice, Tigress.

"WHAT, TO SCARED TO FIGHT SOMEONE WHO'S NOT WOUNDED!"

Beetle glared down at his palm for a moment longer before bringing his hand into his vest, "One day you'll understand, Tigress." In a flash of a second, a flashbang hit the ground and Beetle was gone.

When her vision cleared Tigress looked at the spot Beetle had been just a moment ago, "Shit."

—

"So, you did exactly what I told you not to do." Hawkmoth asked, "And now she has to go to the hospital because of it."

"I'm sorry, Gabriel," Felix pleaded, "I didn't mean to, that was the only reason why I had to hurt her!"

"I know." Gabriel said with a flat tone, "At least we now have the Peacock miraculous again."

He turned toward Nathalie, her blank look still in its usual place. Hawkmoth handed her the peacock miraculous, "With Mayura, this fight will become ten times easier."

"Yes, Sir." Nathalie nodded, "I will do my best to help you."

"Now then." Hawkmoth turned toward the window, "All we have to wait for is Chat Noir."


	10. Chapter 10: Looming Storm

**A/N: This chapter has a brief scene of domestic abuse, if you don't want to read that portion it will be marked with ********** Other than that enjoy the read and have fun!**

Bridgette's back collided with her bed, a loud sigh escaping her lips. It had been far too long since she had gotten any large amount of rest. For a whole week, she had been fighting on her own, the guardian not willing to give support from another miraculous until Marinette recovered.

To say the least, it was just a tiny bit frustrating.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, at least Hawkmoth seemed to slow down around this time of day.

Her phone started to ring

With withheld frustration and a strangled scream, she grabbed the phone from its place on her nightstand and answered it.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Felix," The other voice spoke, "Are you open for a coffee?"

"Sure," Bridgette yawned, "I could use one."

"Meet me at the bakery, It's close to where I want to go." He instructed.

"Alright alright," Bridgette smiled, "I'll be there."

She heard a hum, then the phone call ended. Bridgette sighed and sat back up, made her way to her closet and grabbed a large Jagged stone hoodie before making her way outside.

The weather had turned colder after Emilie had lost the Peacock miraculous to Beetle, it seemed fitting. The war between the Guardian and Hawkmoth had claimed its first victim and the Universe needed to show it, the chilling cold was the enemy's instrument of victory.

She sighed, these analogies were stupid. Why was she using them?

She shivered as she left her apartment building, the weather still caught her off guard. It felt like a crisp morning cold that you would find while hiking, she shook her head and rubbed her hands together. She should have grabbed a larger jacket.

She continued her way toward the bakery when a familiar face grabbed her eye, she turned and saw a small shop with a couple of televisions behind the window. On every one was the face of Emilie Agreste, the subtitle read: What the Agreste's didn't want us to know, a struggling marriage for a superhero?

Bridgette raised an eyebrow and shook her head before making her way down the sidewalk once more.

The news had found out about Emilie soon after the fight. They had been helping Marigold and Emilie out from the half-destroyed bakery when the police and news arrived. Before they could've done anything pictures were taken and papers were already being written.

Bridgette rubbed her hands together and stuffed them in her pockets. In front of her was the still half-destroyed, they had cardboard covering the shattered windows and had some drywall and plywood already being put in as a replacement.

Bridgette smiled when she saw Felix, he stood opposite of the bakery with a frown on his face.

She crossed the street so that she was behind the blonde before slowly sneaking up behind him.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." She heard him whisper.

She grabbed his shoulder, "Everyone's fine, Marinette wasn't home, Tom and Sabine were in the back."

"I can't help but feel uneasy." Felix sighed, "What if people aren't as lucky next time."

Bridgette's gaze moved away from Felix and toward the bakery once more, "We can only hope we won't have to face that possibility."

"Well then," Felix began, a lighter tone in his voice, "Let's go get coffee."

"Yeah," Bridgette smiled, "I could use some!"

—

His mother was Le Paon, had been Le Paon….

Adrien held his head in his hands, a long sigh escaping his breath.

He could feel Nino give him a sympathetic glance.

Adrien turned his gaze toward the window, his eyes find the outside world. The sky was grey, and the storm clouds had gathered over Paris.

It was a little funny…

Just as his mother was unmasked an unmoving storm began to hover over the city. Everyday people getting dressed for a storm only to have nothing happen.

"Adrien!" A voice prodded.

Adrien's head snapped toward the voice only to find Marinette where Nino was just a second ago.

Marinette's hand left her crutch and grabbed Adrien's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Adrien's gaze stayed on the girl's crutch, "Yes… I'm fine."

"Are you?" Marinette asked again, she bent down (As well as she could with crutches) and made eye contact with the blonde, "I've noticed you in class this past week," she pointed toward the board, "You haven't kept your eyes on the board for more than five minutes at a time, you stare out the window, and it looks like you've barely slept!"

The brunette stood up straight once more, "Adrien, I'm worried about you."

"Don't be." Adrien shrugged and turned his gaze back toward the window, "Where did Nino and the rest of the class go?"

"Home." Marinette replied with a small sigh, "Adrien if you need to talk or rant or anything…" She trailed off.

"Thanks for the kind words, Marinette." Adrien replied, his gaze still focused on the outside world, "My ride will be here soon, do you need a ride back to the bakery?"

Marinette stood above the sitting blonde, her blue eyes scanned the model before she sighed, "Thanks for the offer, Adrien, but I can manage."

With that Marinette began to make her way out of the school, she gave one glance back at the blonde before leaving.

Adrien meanwhile looked down at his phone and saw a text from Felix.

If you're not busy you can meet me for a coffee at our usual spot, I know you have a lot you need to get off your mind…

-Felix

Adrien sighed and hauled himself off from the bench and made his way to the front of the school. He could see a handful of journalists standing nearby, the blonde sighed and unwrapped the hoodie from around his waist, put it on and pulled on the hood.

He managed to get to the coffee shop without too much trouble. He saw Felix sitting at a table from one of the widows, he had a woman with him. She had hair similar to Marinette's, could it be her mother?

Adrien looked over his shoulder for a moment and contemplated just going home.

He opened the door and went inside the building.

"Good afternoon, Felix." The Blonde yawned as he sat down.

"I can second that!" the woman laughed, a yawn quickly overtaking her as well.

"Adrien," Felix began, shooting a quick look at the woman, "This is Bridgette, she's related to Tom and Sabine's bakery, Sabine's sister."

"Nice to meet you, Bridgette." Adrien greeted with a nod.

"Nice to meet you too, Adrien." Bridgette began, her gaze fell to his backpack before returning to him, "Where do you go to school?"

"Collège Françoise Dupont," The blonde replied.

"So, Adrien." Felix cut in, "We wanted to know what's been going on since the big reveal a week back, I know it can be hard to deal with Gabriel." he laughed, "I had to grow up with… that."

"Well put." Bridgette shook her head, "If you don't want to say anything you don't have to, Felix just has some grudges from when he was your age."

"No, it's okay," Adrien shrugged, "It's been… difficult recently... "

"How so?" Felix leaned forward, Bridgette shoots him a quick look but nonetheless continued to listen to the younger blonde.

"It's just… well…" Adrien sighed, "I don't want to talk about it… it's just been difficult…"

Felix opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Bridgette, "It's alright Adrien, you don't always have to talk." She glanced at Felix before continuing, "However, sometimes it can help you in the long run to have a shoulder."

"Yeah," Adrien nodded and his gaze fell to the floor, "I'll keep that in mind.

—

"What were you thinking!?"

Emilie scoffed at her husband, "you're still on this?"

His eyes flared with annoyance as he turned toward his wife, "Of course I'm still on this, this doesn't affect you, it will only snowball from here!"

Emilie scowled at Gabriel, "I know this doesn't just affect us." Her chair screeched against the floor as she stood up, "This doesn't just affect us! This also affects the millions of people who live in the city-!"

"They can wait!" Gabriel interrupted, "There is only a select group of people that matter-"

Emilie was having none of it, "If you say Adrien and I matter to you, then you are truly mistaken." The blonde made her way to her husband as she spoke, she finished by jabbing her index finger into his chest, "All you ever cared about was your empire, we're just a sideshow aren't we? Well?"

"Things can change," Gabriel looked down at his wife, "They can be the way they were…" he trailed off.

Emilie shook her head in disagreement, a frown formed on her face, "You can't change the past Gabriel."

"Yes I can," Gabriel's smile was slightly crooked, "All I need is a little more time!"

Emilie backed away from Gabriel, her eyes wide with terror, "No, not that…"

Gabriel's lopsided smile grew, "I've done it before, I can do it again."

"Gabriel." Emilie tried to cut in, it was in vain, however.

"Even without the Cat Miraculous, I can change things!" Gabriel's smile turned into a frown, "Why did you fight against me?"

Emilie took a step back, "What?"

"I just realized…" Gabriel's eyes turned toward the Emilie, who had been slowly moving away from him.

"Gabriel?" Emilie took another step.

"You betrayed me…" He took a step forward.

"Gabriel," Emilie hushed her husband, "Are you okay? How have I betrayed you?"

"YOU USED THE PEACOCK MIRACULOUS AGAINST ME!" Gabriel bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Before Emilie could move Gabriel's fist slammed against her cheek, she fell to the floor.

"AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU!"

He kicked his wife in the ribs.

Emilie screamed in pain but got up nonetheless, her left arm clutched her side.

"I WON THE BATTLE!" He screamed, "I DEFEATED LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR!"

He raised a fist and launched a punch at his wife's face, "AND YET!"

Emile tumbled down toward the floor and screamed in pain, her right hand put pressure on her left eye.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" A new voice screamed out.

Gabriel looked into the now open doorway to find Felix. His brother's eyes flickered between the injured wife and the abusive husband.

Felix charged toward Gabriel and sent a right cross against the unsuspecting man's jawline, Gabriel fell to the floor with a satisfying grunt.

meanwhile, Felix pulled out his phone and knelt to check on Emilie, "Don't get back up Gabriel, I'm calling the cops!"

Gabriel struggled to get back up, "Hteinhkyaotemhu!"

Felix froze and Emilie swallowed.

"Put your phone away," Gabriel Instructed the blonde.

Two pairs of eyes watched as Felix put his phone back in his pocket.

"Nooroo, Darkwings rise!"

Emilie watched in horror as Hawkmoth stood above her, his dull grey eyes didn't match his crooked smile.

"Transform, Felix." He commanded.

With a flat voice, Felix did so, "Spots On."

Emilie once again was forced to watch as Beetle stood above her, a blank look on her face.

As if on cue a third person entered the room, she wore a blue dress and had a sympathetic gaze on the abused woman.

"May I introduce you to Mayura?" Gabriel laughed, "She will be your replacement from now on."

"What is it that you want Gabriel?" Emilie asked, "What is your ultimate goal?"

"You think that I'll let you know?" Gabriel laughed at the prospect, "I'm not like those stupid supervillains that you see on the television, I'm smarter and have already won once! I will get the miraculous and win again!"

Gabriel's gaze moved to Beetle, "Beetle, take her to the basement, I don't want her being close to the battle."

Emilie struggled as best she could but the strikes from Gabriel earlier made it impossible for her to resist.

"I'm sorry Emilie, but I cannot allow to you be outside of this house until this blows over."

As the mind-controlled villain did so Gabriel turned toward Mayura, "It is time to draw them out!"


	11. Chapter 11: A New Perspective

CHAPTER 11

Adrien looked through the window as the car drove past the many buildings of Paris, a sigh escaped his lips. His memory drew back to the previous night, the silence had scared him, where did everyone go? All he had been able to hear were the echoes from his footsteps,

His attention was snapped back to the present as the car pulled up to the school. He could see Nono, Alya, and Marinette sitting on the steps, waiting for him. He quickly grabbed his stuff and got out of the car.

"Good morning guys!" Adrien smiled as he made his way to his friends, "Thanks for waiting for me."

"No problem, dude!" Nino responded with a smile.

"It's good to see a smile on your face, Adrien." Marinette smiled.

"We should probably get to class," Alya told the group, "We don't want to be late, do we?"

As the group began to move Adrien found himself walking beside Marinette. She still had to be using her crutches, the blonde decided to slow his pace for her.

"How are you, Marinette?" Adrien asked the girl, "How's the bakery holding up?"

"The bakery is almost finished with the new wall and my parents and I are doing fine." She sighed as she began to make her way up the stairs, "What about you?"

Adrien thought about the day prior, "It was…quiet, to say the least."

Marinette opened her mouth to speak but was unable to do so when they entered the classroom. Before long they made their way to their seats and got their things ready for the day's work.

"Alright, class." Ms. Bustier began, "Today we'll be doing a review for tomorrow's test, get out your materials and we'll begin."

Adrien reached into his bag and grabbed his notebook and glanced up toward the window. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before shouting, "DUCK!"

Everyone turned to him but the sound of shattering glass made everyone duck their heads.

Once the glass stopped moving Adrien poked his head out from his desk and saw Tigress struggling against Beetle.

She kicked him off of her and quickly got up. She glanced over her shoulder toward the group of students watching near the indoor windows, "You guys should duck."

Adrien did so just as he saw Beetle begin to charge her, within a second he was hurled through the window next to his and Nino's desk.

As everyone in their column evacuated from that side of the room Adrien and Alya helped Marinette to her feet.

While they did so Tigress scanned the room, her gaze slowing around Marinette and Adrien. She turned toward Ms. Bustier, "There's an Akuma on the way, I'll keep Beetle busy but you need to get the rest of the school evacuated!"

With that, she sprinted out of the room and jumped down to the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Ms. Bustier grabbed her phone and called Principle, "Code H! Code H! Yes, we need to evacuate, Tigress said so!"

Not even a moment passed before fire alarms began to go off and Mr. Damocles' voice filled the halls, "Evacuate the school in a calm and orderly fashion!"

Ms. Bustier took the lead and lead the class out from the room in a line, the tail end of the line saw Alya, Nino, Marinette, and Adrien in that order.

As they slowly made their way down the stairs Adrien watched the two powered beings fighting it out on the floor beneath them. All around them were pieces of shattered glass and cracked floors.

As they finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and toward the front entrance Ms. Bustier was hit by a beam of light and froze. A glassy look overtook her face and she turned toward her students, "Alright kids, follow Brainwaves' instructions."

Adrien's eyes went wide as an Akuma made his way up the front steps. The Akuma was wearing a worn button-up suit and had a large helmet covering much of its head. Where his eyes would have been were two swirling spheres of black and white. The Akuma raised his arms and shot two beams at his classmates, taking over Kim and Ivan.

The same glassy light took them over as well.

"RUN!" Marinette screamed out to the rest of the evacuating students.

Everything from there was utter chaos, kids and faculty were running everywhere. Tigress was on her own once again, unable to help. And to top it all off Marigold had still failed to appear.

Adrien glanced over his shoulder towards the growing army of akumatized students and saw the original eyeing Marinette.

The blonde grabbed Marinette and dove for the ground, just barely dodging a beam from the Akuma.

Adrien landed on his back, with Marinette on top of him. Once the two scrambled back onto their feet the blonde dragged the girl into the nearest classroom, "You okay?"

Marinette glanced at her ankle and smiled, "I'm fine, but we need to find a better hiding place!"

Adrien glanced out toward the chaos. There were a handful of students making their way up the stairs, but with every step more and more were becoming zombies for the Akuma. Meanwhile, the locker rooms were left undefended as the horde moved further into the courtyard. Adrien turned back toward the girl in front of him, "I'm not sure we'll be able to move back upstairs, we may be able to get into the locker rooms."

"Good," Marinette smiled at him, "Lead the way, I'll be right behind you."

Adrien nodded and the two made their way to the doorway. They waited for the horde to move just a bit further inside, and passed the second classroom, before making their move.

Adrien left the room first and quickly crossed the courtyard, only stopping once he had opened the locker room and went inside.

He turned around and waved toward Marinette to make her way over to him. He watched the girl begin the crossing but was forced to stumble backward as the two fighting super-powered individuals landed in between the two rooms.

Marinette's gaze moved between the fighting people and the now redirected horde, with one glance toward Adrien Marinette turned back and returned to the classroom.

The fighting continued to grow more and more chaotic between the two. The blonde watched as Tigress through a punch toward Beetle's face, who dodged the strike and responded with a quick jab into his opponent's stomach.

Beetle watched as the hero fell to the ground gasping for air, his face was expressionless. He raised his arms into the air and interlocked his hands.

Before Adrien realized what he was doing he ran from the safety of the locker rooms and tackled the villain.

Adrien sent a punch across his opponent's face but was quickly kicked off by a red boot. Adrien landed on his back and rolled to his left, just barely evading the now angry supervillain.

Adrien saw a rod of metal from the initial start of the battle in the corner of his eye. He watched Beetle began to move to the blond's left.

Adrien returned the favor by backing up toward his right, where the rod was.

"Adrien, I'll give you one chance." Beetle stated as he continued to walk, "Surrender, stop fighting."

Adrien finally stopped walking, now right next to the rod, "And what? Let you destroy Paris and follow Hawkmoth?"

Beetle's blank expression returned as he charged toward the blonde.

Adrien dodged the initial pounce and grabbed the metal rod, holding it like it was a foil, he jabbed and managed to hit Beetle in the chest.

However, Beetle used that chance to close the distance and used the armor from his suit to absorb the hits.

Adrien lunged forward once more but instantly regretted it.

Beetle dodged the lunge, grabbed the teen's arm and swung him into the air and over himself. When Adrien collided onto the floor he was out cold.

By the time any semblance of vision returned to Adrien the fighting had ended and all was quiet. Adrien had been moved from the middle of the courtyard to one of the walls.

When he opened his eyes he saw Marigold and The Jade Turtle talking nearby.

When he tried to sit up and groaned, his entire body felt like it was being pricked with needles.

"Are you alright, Adrien?" A kind voice spoke, Adrien glanced up and saw Marigold kneeling to speak to him. He smiled.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright," Adrien confirmed, "What about you?"

The hero shrugged, "As good as I could be, what you did was dangerous."

The sudden shift in tone shocked Adrien, but he had nothing to do but listen to the hero.

"Not only did you come out from one of the safest places in the immediate vicinity, but you went up against the most dangerous person in the area!" The hero let out a frustrated huff, "At the very least your fencing skills helped you until I arrived."

Adrien sighed and glanced over toward the doorway to the empty classroom, a small frown arrived on his face, "What about Marinette?"

Adrien saw Marigold tense up slightly, did something bad happen to her? Was she hurt?

"SHE'S FINE!" Marigold almost shrieked, "Most of those who weren't taken over by the Akuma were allowed to leave a little while ago, those who were are currently talking with Jade and Tigress."

Adrien glanced around the bee hero and saw the two older heroes talking to a large group of students. He couldn't tell what they were talking about but it was probably about how to avoid Akuma and controlling their emotions.

There had been similar things in the past, whichever hero was still present when the press arrived had always managed to talk about controlling emotions and resisting Hawkmoth, the only exception being with his mother's reveal…

A rapid series of beeps erupted from Marigold comb, and a sheepish smile graced the girl's face, "Seems like I'm almost out of time."

Marigold turned toward the other two heroes, "Jade, Tigress, I'm gonna head out right now, I wish you two the best of luck!"

The two heroes nodded their goodbye's

Marigold turned back toward Adrien, "Next time there's a supervillain, run the other way!"

With that, the bee heroine flew into the sky and away from the site of the battle.

Adrien stayed for a little longer but was eventually brought back home by the gorilla. The drive was silent and cold, the only warmth being the gorilla's nod.

Adrien smiled at his bodyguard, but his focus was elsewhere. He pulled out his phone and found Marinette's contact.

 _ **Adrien: Everything alright? Did you get home okay?**_

 _ **It took a couple of minutes for him to get a response.**_

 _ **Marinette: Yeah, I managed just fine… how are you doing?**_

 _ **Adrien: Nothing more than a couple of bruises, don't worry.**_

 _ **Marinette: I have to Adrien, that's what's friends do, also, don't fight supervillains head on!**_

Adrien laughed, he thought Marigold had lectured him enough on the matter. Turns out Marinette had a couple of words she wanted him to hear.

With a grunt the Gorilla let Adrien know that they had arrived. Adrien sent a quick goodbye and made his way out of the car and inside his mansion.

Adrien once again found himself in the cold mansion, he sighed and saw Nathalie at her reception desk.

"Hey, Nathalie, where's my mom?"

Nathalie didn't look up from her computer, "She's on a business trip, she's also too busy to make any sort of a phone call at the moment."

Adrien sighed and thanked Nathalie before making his way to his room. He made his way to his table and grabbed the turned the T.V. on, quickly finding breaking news about the attack.

He sighed and set the remote back down when he noticed something odd. On his table was a wooden box in the shape of an octagon. It was decorated with ornate red symbols and writing.

Maybe it was a gift from his mother!

With that thought, Adrien reached and opened the box. A large ball of bright light caused him to grimace and shield his eyes.

When he looked back his eyes went wide.

"Adrien Agreste, you have been chosen."


	12. Chapter 12: Intelligence

CHAPTER 12:

"Today we have come one step closer to accomplishing our mission." Hawkmoth stated, a grin on his face, "Three days from now we will have a new card in our deck, Lila Rossi."

Felix raised his eyebrow, "The Rossi diplomat's daughter? How will she help us out against the guardian and his chosen?"

He could feel Nathalie's gaze on him, but he kept his gaze on his brother.

"Yes, she will." His brother scowled at him, "Do you have a problem with my plan, brother?"

"No," Felix responded, "I just fail to understand it."

"Well, I don't expect someone of your caliber to understand," The villain sighed, "However, I will do the best to help you understand."

He turned to the nearby window, his eyes running over the city, "Lila and I had an agreement in another time, she would help me fight against my enemies and I would give her power, that was before my pyrrhic victory and my asking for your assistance," His eyes had a faraway look to them, "Now with her returning she will be the key to our victory, as for Adrien."

"Adrien?" Felix raised an eyebrow, "What does Adrien have to do with this?"

"He is one of the tools in our victory," Hawkmoth glanced over his shoulder towards Felix, "by now he'll have unleashed the miraculous that the Guardian had left him."

"The Guardian was here?!" Felix's eyes went wide in shock, "When was he here?"

"While you were losing against Tigress," Nathalie answered, "He left the dragon Miraculous for Adrien, which would help bolster the Miraculous Team."

"The guardian knows the risk," Hawkmoth cut in, grabbing Felix's attention, "Now it comes down to figuring out where he will send Adrien, to meet," The villain turned back toward Felix and Nathalie, "That's where you come in Felix, you'll be sent to interrogate Emilie, find out where the guardian is, but stay as Beetle. Only use your secret identity if needed."

Felix hesitated but nodded nonetheless, "It will be done, brother."

Gabriel nodded toward the elevator, "Then go."

"Greetings, young man, and fear not! For I am Longg the Dragon Kawami." The floating dragon spoke.

Adrien scratched the back of his head, "What's a Kawami?"

"A magical… fairy would be the best term to understand." Long continued, "Now, let me tell you about the magical feats that a magical being, such as myself, will help you will be able to do once the magic words have been spoken." The Kawami gestured toward the chocker in the box.

"Let's get started," Adrien smiled.

"You will be able to use three elements, Wind, water, or lightning." Adrien nodded, listening to the Kawami's words, "You will be able to become one of the three elements I mentioned earlier, however, if you use all three you will lose your transformation in about five minutes."

Adrien nodded, "You mentioned something about a phrase I needed to say?"

Long laughed, "how could I have forgotten about that," He pointed toward the choker once more, "You will have to put on the choker and speak the words, "Longg, Bring the storm to transform, and Open Skies to transform back into a civilian."

Adrien smiled at the Kawami, "When do we start?"

Longg shook his head, "The guardian will let us know until then stay put."

"Guess I'll have to."

"I already told you! I won't tell you anything."

Beetle sighed, "Emilie, I don't want this to become ugly."

Emilie laughed, "You don't want this to become ugly? People have died! My son was attacked by you and my husband! There's nothing that you could do or say that would make me help you!"

Beetle frowned, "Adrien joined the fight, he was given the dragon Miraculous."

Emilie gasped, "Who gave it to him?"

"The Guardian." was his reply.

"No." The chains clicked as she fell to her knees. She looked up at him, "Why tell me this?"

Beetle squatted down, "spots off."

Felix replaced Beetle, "because you need to know." He sighed, "I need to know where the guardian is, I need to warn him about the incoming attack."

"Let Tikki go, let her warm him." Emilie pleaded, "I can't allow you to know, not while you are under the influence on my Gabriel's magic."

Felix glanced at the Kawami floating nearby him, "Do you know where he is?"

"Yes, but I'll only do it on one condition." Tikki replied, "I'll need to take the Miraculous with me."

Felix's eyes went wide, "Why?"

"He wouldn't trust you without it, for all he knows you could be using me to find him, by bringing the Miraculous back to him you'll prove that you aren't lying."

"She's right." Emilie told the blonde, "Gabriel has had control of the ladybug miraculous for too long now, it's time you put a stop to your brother's plans!"

Felix stared at Tikki, her eyes shone with a determination that he had never seen, and the light of truth. He stared down into his palm and then up at Emilie. Thoughts of Adrien losing his mother flew through his mind. Felix couldn't stand it!

"It never felt right on me anyway." He looked toward Tikki as he took the earrings out, "Tikki, release you from my service, find the guardian and tell him that Adrien is compromised and a massive attack is on its way."

The Kawami nodded and smiled at her now revoked owner, "Good luck."

"He'll need it." A new voice spoke, causing the three to turn and find Hawkmoth.

"Tikki GO!" Felix turned back to his brother as the Kawami left with the earrings, leaving through the skylight.

"I knew you would fold." Hawkmoth laughed, "Your emotions betrayed you."

"Shut up, Gabriel!" Felix booed, "You can't sense shit!" He took a step forward, "If you did how come you can't notice the way Adrien feels!"

"I am his father, I notice everything." Gabriel denied, the grip on his cane tightening.

"BULLSHIT!" Felix growled out, taking another step, "He's scared, afraid, and worst of all alone." He pointed at his brother, now close enough to see Gabriel's blank eyes, "All because of you and me!" Felix took a breath, "I won't be part of it anymore."

The blonde's feet left the ground and was sent several feet back and hit the railing to the walkway. He could hear the clicks from Hawkmoth's boots on the walkway, "You picked your side when you kidnapped Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you picked your side when you led the assault on the Eiffel Tower, you picked your side when you brought the attack to Adrien's school!"

Hawkmoth grabbed Felix's shirt and pulled him into the air, "So, what is it little brother, what's your response!"

Felix grabbed the arm that was holding him up, "GOD, I hate you!" The blonde sent his foot into his brother's knee and was released. He raised his fist as Hawkmoth fell to the ground in pain and prepared to punch, but was sent to the floor with a massive gust of wind.

Felix was able to see what had thrown him to the floor, his eyes went wide. A giant purple moth hovered just above the walkway.

Felix stared at the woman coming from the elevator, "Nathalie, why would you follow him!?"

"Why would you betray him?" She responded.

Hawkmoth stood up and unsheathed the sword from its sheath, "Let's settle this, Felix!"

Felix stood up and sprinted toward his brother, he dodged a thrust from his brother's sword and spun around to give Hawkmoth a right hook. His attack was stopped when Hawkmoth caught his punch.

Emilie watched on in horror as a pain-filled scream erupted from the blonde.

Longg watched as his chosen did his homework, a small smile on his face. He hadn't been out of his miraculous for a very long time. So when he had been brought out he was more than happy. However, there was only one thing that he did not understand. Why Adrien?

Don't get him wrong, he was happy to be of service to Master Fu, it was just that Adrien had more of a Plagg feel to him. The kid was so focused on being perfect the universe pushed the other way, he didn't get it.

Longg felt something move behind him, he turned to see Tikki trying to get through the window.

"Tikki?"

The Ladybug Kawami turned and smiled, "So what he was saying was true, Longg it's you!"

"What who said is true?"

"Fe-" She paused, her eyes drifting to the confused Adrien Agreste, "We need to get to the guardian!"

"Who is the Guardian?" Adrien asked, "What does he do?"

"He guards the miraculous, young one." Longg responded, "Now we have an important job to do," The Kawami turned to Tikki, "We need to get Tikki back to the Guardian!"

"How will we do that, Hawkmoth will finish off Felix any minute now!"

"What? Felix? What about him?" Adrien's eyes went wide.

"We'll get to that, young one, the mission comes first." He fully turned toward Adrien and floated down, "You know the words."

In a flash of light, Adrien found himself in spandex. He examined himself in the window and smiled, the horns on his head were similar to Longg's, the emblem on his chest represented the three elements, and finally, he noticed the head of the dragon was nearby with the rest of it circling him. Just as he was about to turn to the kawami he noticed his weapon. Inside a leather hilt was a sword that looked similar to a katana, he liked that.

His gaze left the sword and found the kawami floating nearby, "You ready, Tikki?"

She nodded, "Yes I am!"

Adrien pushed open the window, took a running start, and leaped to the roof of the building opposite of him.

He landed with a stumble and smiled. His gaze turned to the Kawami, "How'd I do."

"You're a little… rough around the edges Adr-" the Kawami paused, "What do you want your superhero name to be?"

Adrien stood up and glanced at the next building over. His gaze found the dragon crest on his chest and be smiled once more.

"Mushu, call me Mushu!" The dragon flew across the rooftops and continued on his way.

By the time they had gotten there, Mushu was sweaty out of breath. Turns out that running and jumping halfway across the city was a lot more energy-intensive than he thought.

"Let me check if he's available," Tikki began to float away before turning back toward him, "Stay out of sight Mushu, see you soon."

Mushu glanced over his shoulder and found a stone chimney that he could stand by and hope for cover. The full moon in the sky made it almost impossible for him to feel like he was hidden.

He sat there for what seemed like half an hour before Tikki returned, this time without the earrings. She smiled at the new hero, "The guardian will see you now, just go through the open window"

The dragon made his way inside and found the Guardian. He was a short Tibetan man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, he was smiling at the new hero, "Welcome, Adrien."

"Hello, Mr. Guardian," Mushu responded with his smile.

"No need for the mask, I know who you are." The guardian reminded him, "Also, you may call me Master Fu."

"Open skies." In a flash, Adrien replaced Mushu, his smile now a little sheepish.

"Thank you for escorting the Tikki back to me," He turned away to pour tea into two small cups before returning his gaze to the teen, "How did you come to take up this task?"

Adrien thanked the older man and took a cup of tea, "I was doing homework when I heard longg talking, I assumed he was talking to himself but when I turned around and saw another one of him I knew something was up." He took a sip of tea, "I heard them mention something about my uncle, Felix, and Longg told me that we needed to get Tikki to you, next thing I know I was here."

Fu nodded, "Very wise decision, it is better that you are here than at the manor, Adrien."

"Why?" Adrien's eyebrow crept up, "Why isn't it safe to be there right now."

Master Fu glanced at Longg, Tikki, and a turtle Kawami before letting out a sigh, "Adrien, I'm sorry that I have to tell you this, but according to Tikki, Felix and your father were Beetle and Hawkmoth respectfully."

Adrien froze mid-sip, it couldn't be. His father couldn't be Hawkmoth, he may have been distant but it was for the company!

When was the last time he participated in fashion week?

He loved his mother, who was on a business trip!

Who had disappeared a week after her identity had been revealed.

He sighed and looked at Tikki, "Is this true?"

She nodded, "I saw him transform into Hawkmoth, fortunately, Felix managed to buy time for me to find you."

"Why did you have to find me, I know that I was your escort by why me specifically?" Adrien was still dealing with the fact that his father was Hawkmoth, "Wait, why did Felix have to buy you time? where were you guys, I didn't hear any echoes?"

Tikki gave a glance toward Master Fu, who nodded, she then continued, "He was sent to interrogate your mom, who is currently in a basement underneath the mansion." Adrien's head fell into his hands.

He couldn't comprehend what he was being told, "He had been on the fence with what he was doing in the name of your father, so when he talked with Emilie we managed to turn him to our side, sadly Hawkmoth arrived before we could do anymore." She took in a breath and her head began to hang slightly, "Last I saw him he was trying to fight both Le Paon and Hawkmoth without any powers."

The room was silent as Adrien absorbed what he had been told, minutes passed before he looked up to Master Fu, "We need to go save him."

The master grabbed the blonde's wrist, keeping his still for a moment, "I can't allow that."

"Why not!" Adrien's voice seethed with anger, "I can transform, find this basement and fight my father!"

"It wouldn't work," Master Fu informed the teen.

"WHY NOT!" Adrien pulled his wrist from the guardian, but his feet did not move. His gaze focused on the wooden table in front of him, "HE TOOK MY MOTHER AND MAY KILL MY UNCLE, WHY SHOULDN'T I FIGHT MY FATHER!"

"You'd lose." Master Fu responded calmly, "He'd take you too, there is only one thing you will be able to do at this time."

Adrien let out an angry breath, "And what would that be?"

Master Fu gestured to the teacup in front of them, "Drink tea, listen to an old man's stories, and be patient."

Adrien stared at the old man with a raised and glanced at Longg, but nonetheless, he sat down and took a sip of the tea.

Master Fu smiled.


	13. Chapter 13: Return

Shuffle Chapter 13: Memories

Marinette sat up with a large yawn, her arms stretching far above her head. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed her phone, checking the time.

It read 8:55 am.

Marinette's covers flew off her bed and she practically dived off of her bed and toward her closet.

With a roll, she managed to get to her closet and opened it.

As all this chaos was happening, Pollen watched her queen. She had a smile on her face and decided to let her chosen continue to stumble about for a little longer.

Marinette had gotten her shirt and jacket on and one foot into her jeans before a laughing Pollen stepped in, "You know that there isn't any school for the rest of the week, right?"

Marinette's eyes went wide and she fell, her balance not the best when there was only one leg on the floor.

Pollen closed her eyes for a moment, her gaze suddenly determined, "My queen, it is time for you to transform, Master Fu has summoned you."

Marinette continued to put her clothes on, "How important is it?"

"Important, my queen," Pollen continued, "So important that both you and Tigress have been summoned to his apartment immediately."

Marinette nodded, slipping on her blazer, "Let's do it!"

With a flash of light, Marigold flew out of the bakery and into the skies above Paris.

The air had gotten colder as of late, sweater weather was here. That made Marigold happy of the fuzz around her neck.

However, the question that was still in her head, why had she been summoned?

She knew it was important, otherwise, the two of them would not have been summoned. She let out a huff, she could never guess what was happening next.

"Hey, Marigold!" A friendly voice boomed.

The flying hero looked over to the roof next to her and found a smiling Tigress jumping from roof to roof with a smile on her face.

Marigold smiled back, "Any idea what this is about?"

"All I can say is that it's important if he wants us both there ASAP." The older hero made a shrugging motion as she jumped over an alleyway.

Once the two of them made it to the back window of Master Fu's apartment they were greeted by Wayzz, "Thank you two for coming on such short notice, I know the two of you may have had plans but for now, this is more important," He glanced behind him before turning back to the two, "You may now enter."

The two glanced at each other before entering the small apartment. They followed Wayzz until they entered the main room and found Master Fu, who looked like he had stayed up most of the night.

"Good morning, Marigold," He greeted, "And good morning to you too, Tigress." He gestured toward the two cushions on the other side of his coffee table, "Please sit." The two heroes sat down as requested and were offered two steaming cups of tea.

The two of them took the tea and Master Fu smiled, "As you know we have been trying to defeat Beetle and gain the ladybug Miraculous." Marigold winced as she took a sip of her tea, Fu continued, "There was a development the other night, and we now have a new ally in our fight against Hawkmoth."

As if on cue, a young man came out from around the corner, he had spandex on with an eastern style dragon that swirled around his body. Marigold was able to see his weapon, a sword with a black hilt.

"Hello," The rookie said with a small smile, "My name is…" He paused seemingly realizing the implication of giving his real name "call me Mushu"

"Hello, Mushu," Tigress' eyes narrowed, "How did you get the dragon Miraculous?"

"I was the one who gave him it," Master Fu told the two heroes, "He was quickly able to regain a lost Miraculous as well." He held out his hand to reveal a pair of black earrings.

"The ladybug Miraculous!" Marigold's eyes went wide, and her gaze found Mushu's, "How did you get the Miraculous from Beetle, you couldn't have beaten him alone."

"I didn't have to." Mushu responded, a frown on his face, "He had been trying to switch sides when Hawkmoth found out he tried to steal the Ladybug Miraculous." Marigold noticed the rookie's hands clenched into fists, "He had managed to send Tikki to find the guardian and return the earrings, on the way she found me."

Marigold felt a sense of familiarity with the name of the Ladybug Miraculous, Tikki. It sounded very familiar as if she had seen or heard the name before.

"Then he escorted her to me," Master Fu finished, a smile gracing his face, "Now we have both creation and destruction underneath our control, however, there is something Tikki has revealed to me."

Tigress raised an eyebrow from under the mask, "And what was it that she said?"

"That Hawkmoth had won in the past, that the reason he had the ladybug Miraculous, it was because he had beaten the Ladybug and Chat Noir holders." His eyes found Marigold's, "There's more."

Marigold felt a chill go down her spine, "What could be worse than Hawkmoth winning?"

"It's not that, It's the identity of Ladybug and Chat Noir that had been shocking at first but made more apparent the more I thought of it." Master Fu paused, "It was you and Mushu, Marigold."

Tigress' eyes widened, "How do you know this is true?"

"Because I was the one used to do it." The ladybug Kawami emerged from her hiding spot, eyeing Marigold, "He used my magic to create the world we're in now, however, the universe is in imbalance."

"If he used magic to influence a Kawami, than how can we be sure she isn't controlled by him now." Tigress asked, "I'm sorry Tikki, but if there is something you can show us to convince us I'm not sure I can believe you."

Master Fu's eyes widened slightly, "There can be a way to do so." He looked at Tikki, "If what you're saying is true then you must have a memory of it right?"

"Yes, I do," Tikki responded with an apprehensive tone.

The old man glanced around to Mushu, Tigress, and Marigold, "This may be a little Jarring."

He held out a hand and touched Tikki's head. An unknown language began to chant and the world melted around them.

"Ladybug watch out!"

The spotted hero jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a fireball.

She landed and saw the Akuma land onto the burning roof. She could see Chat Noir land to her right, a burn mark on his cheek.

How could it have come to this?

Just this morning Heroes Day was crashed by Hawkmoth, who had managed to akumatized a large portion of the city.

She could see Queen Bee desperately fighting against Volpina, meanwhile, the last Ladybug had heard Rena Rouge and Carapace fled into the sewers after being overwhelmed by overwhelming Akuma.

Meanwhile, Paris was aflame. The building had collapsed, cars destroyed, and what was left of law enforcement were trying to help any who had failed to evacuate the immediate vicinity of the fighting.

"Any idea where the butterfly could be?" Chat Noir called out, the Akuma preparing for another attack.

A blast was thrown at high speed toward Ladybug who attempted to dodge, but couldn't move as a sudden goo encased her foot.

Chat Noir jumped into the air and raised his baton above his head, aiming for the fire Akuma.

He was flung to the ground when an unconscious Queen Bee was thrown into him, the arrival of Volpina having made the other Akuma stop their assault. Hawkmoth was near.

"You know, Ladybug when Hawkmoth told me this plan I didn't think it would work." Her grin was twisted, evil, "But look around us! Paris is on fire and your precious team has been defeated. Your lies are at an end!"

"That's enough Volpina." A firm voice spoke, breaking the silence.

The tap of a cane preceded his arrival, Hawkmoth slowly came into her vision. His mask was scratched to pieces, just barely holding itself together.

Ladybug's eyes widened, Rena!

"A monologue gives time for the heroes to figure out their next move." Hawkmoth unsheathed the hidden blade within his staff, an evil smile slipping onto his face, "I think it's time to finish this."

"I don't think so!" Chat Noir was standing now, his baton held like a sword.

The two began to clash, and smoke rose into the air confirming Ladybug's suspicion, the building was now on fire.

She glanced down at the goo on her foot and toward her closed yo-yo. With a glance at the smoke, she slammed her weapon into the dry goo and broke free.

Before she could even take a step Volpina crashed into her and sent her through the weakened rooftop.

She groaned and choked on the smoke. With watering eyes, she could barely make out a hovering Volpina.

"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME, LADYBUG!" The supervillain screamed, pain clear in her voice.

"Lila," Ladybug began, "You did it yourself, you don't have to lie to be popular."

Ladybug didn't get an answer, a staff stabbed her back and Ladybug stumbled forward, burning her hands when she tried to steady herself.

"Look at you!" The supervillain spoke.

The staff smacked the back of Ladybug's head, sending Ladybug to the floor.

"You can't even hit me, Ladybug" Lila laughed, "You are such a liar."

Ladybug coughed, the smoke clogging her lungs. She pulled herself up and spun in a circle in hopes of hitting the supervillain.

She felt the point of contact to her right and sent another attack toward the supervillain.

With a crack, Volpina's illusion fell and Volpina was unconscious. Ladybug took the necklace and shattered it, securing the butterfly in her yo-yo.

"Lila, I may hate your guts, but I can't let you die." The superhero put Lila over her shoulder and jumped out of the window toward the nearby police officers in the area.

"Ladybug, who is this?" The man spoke, "We're already to capacity."

"Then make sure she gets medical attention, I need to help Chat Noir." Ladybug responded and threw her yo-yo to the roof.

This was it, their last chance!

Hawkmoth was winning!

Too many Akuma to successfully defend the city! Chloe was out of the game, Alya and Nino had been defeated, and Chat was in a desperate fight against Hawkmoth.

This was their last chance to end this!

A ladybug landed on the roof and heard a scream. Her Bluebell eyes went wide.

Chat Noir was clutching his knee, and Hawkmoth's staff was bloody.

A drop fell onto the roof.

"NO!" Ladybug screamed.

She leaped to the villain and threw her yo-yo at Hawkmoth.

The villain turned around and dodged the strike. He extended his arm and caught Ladybug by her throat.

"Thank you for bringing yourself to me Ladybug," He reached and took one of her earrings, the hero began to change back to her civilian clothes, "I have to say, however, I hate Ladybugs."

With the tiniest bit of effort, the other earring was taken. And Marinette was revealed.

"Marinette?" Chat Noir's eyes began to tear up.

The vision at the edges around Marinette's eyes began to darken. The last thing she saw was Chat Noir standing up in great pain to fight against the supervillain.

The world around them returned and Marigold's hand gently massaged her throat. It had seemed so real, she had believed that his hand would still be there.

"Now you see, Hawkmoth won." Tikki's eyes were downcast, her eyes filled with tears, "Chat managed to get away, but Hawkmoth used magic in the spellbook to create the new timeline," She paused a shaky breath escaping her lips, "It took a toll on him, his mind isn't what it used to be, he's not afraid to kill."

"We've seen that much during the assault on the Eiffel Tower." Tigress sighed, taking a drink of her tea, "So what's our next move?"

Master Fu sipped on his tea, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Marigold's hands were laced into her hair, her entire world was changed now.

Her and Chat Noir… they had lost? Hawkmoth had been willing to burn Paris to the ground to change the timeline. Things didn't make sense anymore, she had been Ladybug? No, she couldn't be, she had always been Marigold!

Or was she?

"Marigold?" The ladybug Kawami prodded the young girl, able to see the conflict on her face, "What I said is true, you were my Ladybug."

"We need to bring back Ladybug and Chat Noir," Master Fu began, "As Tikki said, the universe had taken a toll on him and requires balance."

"And Ladybug and Chat Noir are the best example of balance," Tigress smiled, "You're right, Master."

"So what does that mean for us?" Marigold asked, setting her teacup down on Fu's table, "Are I and Mushu going to become Ladybug and Chat Noir once again?"

"Yes." Master Fu responded, "Your Kawami will be able to restore your memories and skills, you'll regain your experience as these heroes."

"Shouldn't I let her know who I am?" Mushu cut in, "After all, I know she's Marinette through the memory."

Master Fu took a sip of his coffee before letting out a small sigh, "Very well."

"Longg, open skies." With a flash of light, Adrien Agreste replaced Mushu.

He had a smile on his face and bags under his eyes, "Hello again M'lady."

With a quick flash of light, Marinette jumped up toward her partner, "Kitty!"

While the two hugged Tigress turned back toward Master Fu, "Hawkmoth won't be waiting, he knows we have the two Miraculous, he'll come for them."

"Which is why I've been waiting to tell this information Tikki has given me." Master Fu glanced at Adrien, who nodded, "Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste, and in a couple of days he will begin a massive attack on Paris with the help of Lila Rossi."

He took a sip of his tea.

"When the assault begins, Tigress and I will protect the people," He looked toward Adrien and Marinette, "Meanwhile, the two of you will attack Hawkmoth inside his lair."

The two nodded, the final battle was on its way.


	14. Chapter 14: Prelude to Destruction

Chapter 14: Prelude to destruction

Chat Noir dodged a swipe with a roll and smiled, "Come on Tigress! You can do better than that!"

The older hero scowled at the rookie and lunged at him once more, sending swipes at the blonde's face and chest.

Chat Noir attempted to sidestep one of the swipes but was kicked in the stomach by the older hero.

"Come on Chat Noir," Tigress smiled, "You can do better than that."

It had been several days since the reveal and revival of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Since then there have been no Akuma attacks and Gabriel had locked down the mansion tighter than a cork on a bottle. Meanwhile, Adrien stayed with Master Fu and skipped school to prepare for the fight.

Marinette in the meantime had thought about the training that Master Fu had mentioned and made sure they had access to the stadium. This was the second time they had come to train, however, this was also an opportunity to gain more information onto the plan.

"So the plan is that we'll split up, Adrien and I take Hawkmoth while you two take on whatever Akuma he creates with Lila Rossi?" Marinette raised an eyebrow as she watched the two heroes continue to spar, "Sounds pretty risky to me."

Master Fu spared a glance at the young girl, "It is not that the plan is risky, it is what we have to accomplish to even the odds against Hawkmoth and this girl who seems to be such a powerful Akuma for him."

The two watched Chat Noir knock Tigress to the ground, only to be knocked down himself.

"And what is it we need to accomplish to even the odds?" Marinette asked, "All due respect Master, but how do we not have the odds, look around, four against two?"

"We may have the numbers, but he is the one setting the pace of battle." Fu reminded the girl, "We are also bound by the rules of engagement, that he is not."

"What rule is that?" Marinette asked the older man, taking a sip of her tea.

"That we need to unmask him to the public, we need him to be Hawkmoth before we can finish it." Master Fu answered, "We cannot just break into the Agreste mansion, he will undoubtedly have contingencies for that."

"So then we're stuck, waiting for him to move." Marinette sighed in frustration.

"Do not worry, young one," The old man spoke, "Bringing Ladybug and Chat Noir into this game of cat and mouse was a move all on its own."

Marinette sighed and took a drink of her tea, "Sorry, it's just… it's just everything that has been happening so fast." She sighed, "First the Eiffel tower, then the bakery, now this? I can't stand that everything is starting to slow down now!"

"Then let's get some of that frustration out of you," The old man smiled, "It seems like Adrien has had enough."

Marinette's gaze found Chat Noir's, who was underneath Tigress' boot.

"Fine." The girl answered, making her way over to the older hero, allowing Chat Noir to take a break.

"Tikki, Spots on!" In a bright flash of pink light Ladybug replaced Marinette, a small smile arriving on the hero's face, "Let's get this over with."

She unclipped her yo-yo and swung it several times at her opponents, who used her agility to dodge each swing. The tiger pounced down onto the Ladybug, who jumped away and attempted another few swings at her opponent.

Tigress dodged under a swing, but grabbed the end of the yo-yo and pulled ladybug toward her, and kicked her in the stomach, getting rid of her opponent's weapon and tossing it aside.

The older hero raised her fists and smiled at Ladybug, "Come on, let's settle this with hand to hand."

Ladybug obliged.

The two raced toward each other and ladybug slid underneath Tigress, dodging a swing from the tiger. By the time Tigress turned back around a firm punch sent the older hero to the ground.

"That's enough for tonight," Master Fu interrupted, "It's time to expand on the plan, and what our main goals will be."

The group walked into the stands of the stadium and went silent, waiting for what Master Fu had planned.

"As we know Hawkmoth is preparing a massive attack on Paris in hopes of drawing us out," He began, "However, thanks to Tikki, we know that it should begin tomorrow morning."

"What are our objectives?" Tigress asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"First off we need to distract Hawkmoth long enough so that Ladybug and Chat Noir can infiltrate the mansion and free Mrs. Agreste." Fu took a breath before he continued, "Tigress and I will fight against whatever Akuma he has on the ground while Ladybug takes Chat Noir and infiltrates the mansion."

"How will we be able to get my mother out of there if we are discovered," Chat Noir asked, "we'll be completely stuck!"

Fu smiled, "That's why you'll combine two Miraculous."

"You can do that?!" Tigress exclaimed.

"Yes, it is possible," Master Fu confirmed, "Not only can it give you an advantage but after you unmerge you can give a Miraculous to Mrs. Agreste to help escape."

"What Miraculous should we take?" Chat Noir asked, "And how do we use their abilities?"

Master Fu looked at both of them for a moment before smiling, "Ladybug, you will merge the Ladybug and Dragon Miraculous," He turned his gaze toward Chat Noir, "You will merge the Snake and Cat miraculous."

"Shouldn't I have the Dragon Miraculous?" Chat Noir asked, "After all, I was the one with it beforehand."

Master Fu nodded after a moment, "As long as Ladybug agrees."

She nodded, "It makes sense to me, he got a good feeling for it when he arrived at your place the other night."

Master Fu smiled, "That is true," He held out the two Miraculous and smiled, "Take them, and begin to train some more."

The slight hum of the elevator marked the arrival of Gabriel to his two captives, only one of whom had enough strength to look up at their captor. Emilie's gaze found nothing but disgust in her husband's approach, however, the black eye was an exception.

"Hello again Emilie, I wanted you to know something since this will be the last time we talk for a while." Gabriel informed her, "I plan to remake the timeline again, this time wiping out the guardian for good."

"And what else would that cost you, Gabriel?" Emilie responded, "What's left of your humanity? Your mind? Me? Or how about our son?"

"It doesn't matter." He responded, his gaze moved up to the stasis pod beside her.

"What happened to you? What happened to the man I called my husband?" Emilie cried out, "You were once distant but kind, but now? All I see is a man without a care for anyone who isn't himself!"

Gabriel looked down at her, "You happened."

Emilie fell silent.

"You had gotten sick, and the only way I could think to save you was to gain the Miraculous from Ladybug and Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain Cheng and our son." He sighed, wiping a hand down his face, "The three of us fought for years until I decided to up the scale of destruction suddenly in a final hail mary."

"Don't tell me.." Emilie shook her head in denial.

Gabriel sat down on one of the steps below him, his hands grabbed at his hair, "Paris burned, and Ms. Dupain-Cheng was left bleeding, Adrien… was defeated," A tear dropped to the metal below him, "Nonetheless I reset the timeline and cured the Peacock Miraculous."

"What do you mean you defeated Adrien!" Emilie asked her husband, tears building in her eyes, "Don't tell me you killed him!"

His silence was his answer.

"NO!" The woman punched the metal grating beneath her, "Gabriel, how could you!"

"It was him or me, Emilie, I reset it all he's back! And your safe again!"

"I WOULD RATHER HIM HAVE KILLED YOU AND BE IN STASIS FOR THE REST OF MY YEARS THAN SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!" Emilie screamed, she rose to her feet and tried to attack Gabriel, the only thing stopping her was the chains trapping her to the walls.

Gabriel didn't move, he only stared at the ground beneath him. He moved his gaze up toward his wife and opened his mouth to speak before letting out a sigh instead.

With a grunt he stood up and left the room, ascending through the elevator and leaving the sobs behind him.

When he returned from the basement he found Nathalie standing nearby. He sighed and made his way to her, it was time to begin his hail mary.

"Is everything in place, Nathalie?" He asked, his frown didn't leave his face.

"Lila has been contacted and clued in, it seems like your magic worked." Nathalie informed, "As for Scarlett Hawkmoth, all we need to do is begin the akumatization process."

Gabriel smiled at Nathalie, "Let's begin."

"Emilie…" Felix groaned, "He's planned for the endgame."

The blonde stared at him, tears still in her eyes.

"I know him, he's made it his mission to save you at whatever cost," He paused, "From what I can gather he was willing to sacrifice the stability of the universe and his mind to do so."

She sighed, "I know."

The two looked up to the skylight above them. "Let's hope that Adrien brings him down."

"If he killed Adrien in the past, he'll do it again…" tears continued to spill from her eyes, "What if they fail?"

"Don't think like that!" Felix cursed, "Please!"

The sound of tiny wings echoed through the chamber when they turned to see the butterfly the two froze.

It was red.

It flew toward Emilie.

"EMILIE THINK GOOD THOUGHTS!" Felix shouted, "DON'T LET IT TAKE YOU!"

With a click from his chains, the locks gave way and Felix sprinted forward and grabbed the Akuma just before it took her over.

A dark red light surrounded him and Emilie watched in horror as an Akuma replaced Felix.

He was covered in black with red spots and had combat boots, armor around his chest, gauntlets, a hood and last but not least two short batons in his hands.

A dark red moth outline outlined his face.

"Darkbug, my name is Scarlett Hawkmoth, you wish for the powers to save your friends, I will give you this power. However, you need to do something for me… retrieve the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous for me and I will help you. Do we have a deal?"

The villain fixed a crooked smile on his face and looked up to the skylight, "Yes we do, Scarlett Hawkmoth!"

The two heroes caught their breath, they had been training all night. At this point even Tigress was looking tired, Chat Noir hoped that they could go to sleep soon.

"Good work you three," Master Fu smiled, "Tomorrow should be hectic and thanks to this training you will prove to be a threat to Hawkmoth and his Akuma."

"Are you sure about that?" A crazed voice spoke, causing the four to turn toward the source.

Further up on the stands, where repairs were still taking place from the Akuma assault had taken place several weeks ago, a laughing figure watched them.

"Who are you!?" Master Fu asked the man, who responded with a bone-chilling laugh.

"Call me, Darkbug, the one who will hunt down and take the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous!" Master Fu's eyes went wide as a Scarlett moth outline appeared in front of the villain's face.

With a flash of green Jade, the turtle turned toward the other three, "GO! I'll hold him off!"

The three heroes scrambled to get out of there as the villain laughed. The only thing that stopped him was Jade's shield smacking him in the face.

"You will not win, Hawkmoth!" Jade told the Akuma, waiting for his shield to return.

"Oh, but he will," The Akuma sneered, "He has moved to his endgame, you will lose!"

With a roar, Darkbug threw one of his batons to the old hero, who jumped to the right and dodged the weapon.

His shield landed back on his wrist just at Darkbug's foot landed on his chest and threw him down several rows of seats.

"For someone with words of steel, your defense is very lacking."

"I'm just rusty, Darkbug." The hero dipped off of the stands and landed into the field, silently staring down the villain.

The final battle had begun.


	15. Chapter 15: Wish

The three heroes made their way through one of the tunnels of the stadium, the echoes of combat following them at their heels.

Tigress looked over her shoulder and punched the wall, cracking the concrete under her first, "Damnit! How could this have happened!"

"No plan survives contact with the enemy," Chat Noir sighed if only Helmuth Von Moltke could see how his words were being used now.

Tigress glanced over her shoulder and pulled the two into the locker rooms, "So, what's the plan?"

"We need to get to Hawkmoth!" Ladybug spoke, "If we don't then we'll be facing his Akuma."

"We can't sneak in," Chat Noir sighed, "He knows who I am."

"I'll distract him," Tigress told the two younger heroes, "That will give you the chance to have Tikki guide you to the basement."

Ladybug nodded, "We'll need to be quick if we're going to get the drop on him."

"It's the best plan we got!" Chat Noir told them, he hoped they could do it.

They ran out of the stadium and saw a burning Paris, Akuma were destroying the city and the police were doing the best they could to hold them. They were failing.

The heroes jumped into one of the nearby roofs and began to make their way toward the Agreste Mansion.

"There are several security systems in the house," Chat Noir told the two other heroes, "We'll need to break-in if he hasn't started the lockdown yet."

A sudden shift in wind threw the three heroes off their feet, a laugh erupted from someone above them, "Stormy Weather is here to play, give me your Miraculous!"

Tigress took her whip off of her hip and swiped up at Stormy Weather. The cord wrapped around the Akuma's foot and was brought down through the roof of a nearby building.

The hero whirled around and pointed in the direction of the Agreste Mansion, "GO!"

Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug and pulled her with him as they continued their way toward the mansion. The sounds of a whip and cracks of lightning followed them.

"How could this have happened," Ladybug asked herself. Chat Noir could hear how she was trying to keep herself in check.

Two of their comrades had been separated and were now targets for Hawkmoth, Gabriel. Chat Noir sighed, this was going to be a tough battle and they weren't even inside the mansion yet.

Chat Noir glanced over his shoulder to his partner, "When we get inside we'll have to assume Le Paon is inside, the snakes' power will give us the edge we need!"

"You're right! Good thinking Kitty!" Ladybug smiled.

They stopped opposite the mansion, Chat Noir's head tilted slightly. The security systems had not been started yet, during such an attack and knowing that the heroes were on to him. What was Gabriel up to?

"What do you think?" He turned to his partner, "Do you think it's a trap?"

Ladybug knelt near the edge of the roof and put a hand on her chin. Chat Noir watched as she scanned the mansion, a small him left her before she turned back to her partner, "At this point it probably is, but what other choice do we have? We have to get into the basement and the elevator is the only way in."

Chat Noir looked down at the house and raised an eyebrow, he then sheathed his sword and looked down at his palm, "Maybe not."

Ladybug raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I remember that Tikki said the cavern was a massive space under the mansion, maybe I could use cataclysm to make a tunnel down." Chat Noir turned to her and shrugged, "Better than falling into a trap, right?"

Ladybug nodded, "Let's try it!"

Emilie jumped every time she heard an explosion, anytime the ground shook, any time the Peacock moved from her spot watching the elevator.

Nathalie had taken control of the Peacock Miraculous after it had been taken during their skirmish at the bakery.

Emilie let out a huff if only she could bust out of these chains, while she may not be able to do much against Nathalie while she didn't have a Miraculous she could get one good punch in.

"You know he's sorry, Emilie." Le Paon told the woman with a glance over her shoulder, "You know he's doing this for you, right?"

"I'd much rather he do it for Adrien, not me." She responded with a slight growl in her voice.

Le Paon opened her mouth to speak but closed her mouth when a patch of dirt fell onto the ground in front of her.

Emilie looked up above Le Paon just in time to see a large crack above her collapse, covering the supervillain to be covered by large mounds of dirt, cement, and rock.

Quickly following behind them were two figures, Ladybug and Chat Noir. They had weird outfits, ladybug's were spotted and a sea-green color while Chat Noir was black on one half and red on the other.

Ladybug looked around the cavern, "Is this it?"

"It is." Chat Noir responded, looking down at his baton. He looked down at the pinned Le Paon and took the brooch of her chest, "Can you put this in your yo-yo?"

Ladybug nodded.

His gaze moved around scanning the cavern before freezing upon seeing Emilie.

"Mom…" his voice was barely above a whisper.

He took a step toward her when his feet left the floor and his chin crashed onto the stone floor.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Adrien." A sinister voice spoke.

Ladybug readied her yo-yo and glanced down at Chat Noir who was struggling to get back up. She watched Hawkmoth make his way toward her and marked the first position on the snake Miraculous.

She charged at Hawkmoth but crashed to the ground when a baton hit her in the head.

Ladybug felt Darkbug land on the ground and drop somebody else. Ladybug tried to push herself up but was forced back down by Hawkmoth's heel.

"Father!" The two villains looked over to Chat Noir, both his sword and his Baton at his side, "LET. HER. GO."

"And why would I do that?" He turned to face his son. His heel still pushing down Ladybug, who was struggling to press the snake Miraculous.

"Because you need my Miraculous!" He took a short breath, "You created this new timeline with her Miraculous, now you just need mine to keep it stable!"

Hawkmoth looked over at Darkbug and nodded, "I take you up on your offer."

The villain lept high in the air and brought his cane down in a downward strike.

Chat Noir dodged and lunged toward the villain's gut with the dragon's blade.

Hawkmoth redirected the strike and grabbed Chat Noir by the throat, "Well isn't this familiar…"

The cat kicked Hawkmoth's chest and managed to release himself from Hawkmoth's clutches, "It's over father! You're done!"

Chat Noir charged toward his father, realizing too late that the grip on his cane had switched to be like a bat. With a solid swing, Chat Noir was sent through the roof of the cavern and into the skies of Paris.

Ladybug pushed Darkbug off of her and used her yo-yo to escape out of the cavern.

He turned to the shadows, "You too, get Ladybug." Darkbug and an Akumatized Tigress nodded before jumping out of the cavern and chasing the spotted hero.

Ladybug swung across the city dodging blasts, lighting, lasers, and even pigeons from the Akuma currently tarring apart Paris.

She swung wide of a tower to dodge a giant baby but was hit out of the sky when something slammed into her.

Ladybug fell onto a nearby balcony, destroying a small table and potted plants. She pushed herself back up, glancing around for her assailant.

In front of her was Jade, an akumatized Jade. His colors were different, less bright and darker.

He held out his hand to her, "Ladybug, Marinette, give me your Miraculous!"

The hero grabbed a piece of the destroyed wall and hurled it toward her opponent and dropped off the side of the roof.

The street was no better, a fog-related Akuma must have gone through here. She could hear footsteps, screams, and fighting happening all around her.

She continued to scan at her surroundings and smiled, a sewer grate!

By the time Jade, Darkbug, and Tigress had arrived Ladybug was missing and out of their view.

Chat Noir pulled himself off the ground and stumbled upward, the world was spinning and had spots in his vision.

He extended his staff and tried to stabilize himself.

Smoke invaded his lungs and his body begged him to lay down and take a break. With a groan, he stood up straight and took a look around him.

The Eiffel Tower was above him and smoke came from the burning buildings nearby.

"No…" he whispered, the screams being heard above the chaotic screaming.

"NO!" He tried to take a step but fell to the ground, both legs screaming in pain.

"Adrien, stop!" Hawkmoth landed behind the collapsed hero, "You're beaten, surrender now and no more of the city will be destroyed!"

Chat Noir grit his teeth and pushed himself off the ground and back up to his feet a second time. He stumbled backward for a moment but unsheathed his sword and pointed it at his father.

"I will never surrender to you of all people!"

Chat Noir charged forward and dodged a swing from his father before kicking his legs out from under him. Chat Noir got on top of the villain and raised his fist, "Give me one good reason, father!"

"You've failed already," he laughed, "Ladybug has fallen! Paris has fallen, Your mother has failed you!"

Gloves knuckles crashed against Hawkmoth's cheek, "No!" Chat Noir screamed, "No she hasn't, Ladybug is still fighting!" He punched his father again, "Mother is still fighting!"

"Adrien…" a voice spoke.

Chat Noir turned around and Marinette being held by her throat, "Adrien, please..." She begged him.

"Let her go!"

Darkbug tightened his gaze, the sinister smile growing on his face.

Chat Noir charged, and everything went black.

Ladybug glanced at the map on her yo-yo, finding that the sewer had led her to an area near the Eiffel tower. She continued until she found the sewer grate above her, a small frown pulled at her lips. She had been forced to release up the snake Miraculous a little while ago, the five minutes have passed by. Since then she had been making her way through the sewers in an attempt to find Chat Noir, and by extension, Hawkmoth.

Sass tilted his head, "What's wrong, Ladybug?"

"Something feels… off." She responded, glancing back toward her yo-yo, "I can't see Chat Noir on my map anymore."

"Hm," Sass responded, "That does seem odd, do you think he's lost his Miraculous?"

"No." Ladybug spoke after a moment, "We would know if he had." The two jumped when the ground shook beneath their feet. something huge had just fallen.

she reached for the snake Miraculous and handed it to the Kawami, "If we fail, find someone who can fix this."

Sass nodded, "Good luck, Ladybug.

When Ladybug made her way to the surface she froze. The Eiffel tower had been knocked onto its side and a bright light was emitting from it.

Ladybug readied her yo-yo and made her way over the destroyed Eiffel Tower. She could see someone in white fighting against Hawkmoth and another individual who looked familiar.

Ladybug landed with a roll and got a good look at the combatants. The first was the unknown individual, she had long brown hair, a flute, and wore the Fox Miraculous. All at once her memory from Tikki appeared in her mind, it was Volpina. Ladybug shook her head and took a look at the other two combatants. The second was Hawkmoth, his suit had several claw marks torn through the fabric and was desperately fighting his opponent. The third made Ladybug's heart stop.

Chat Noir's entire color scheme had been inverted. His normal black leather had become white, the red of the dragon had turned blue. His eyes were no longer Vibrant green, but a sinister blue.

She watched as he dodged a strike from Volpina and put his blade through her, causing her to collapse on the floor.

She tried to steady her breathing and cupped her hands together, "Chat Noir!" The two remaining combatants stopped and looked over to the still-alive Ladybug.

Hawkmoth cursed his luck and turned back to his son. Who's hand was raised to his father's face.

"Cataclysm…"

A white light surrounded his hand, seemingly about to explode in a wave of violent anger.

"Chat, don't do this," Ladybug cried out, landing next to Hawkmoth, "We're better than this!"

"You don't understand, Marinette!" He protested, "He killed us in the past! He's killed millions!"

"And we can fix that!" Ladybug reminded him, "We can use the two Miraculous to wish everything back to the way it was before Gabriel had created this timeline."

"But he has to go!" He argued, "He caused the deaths of you, mother, Alya, Nino, and so many others! I can't live in the same world as my murderer of a father!"

Ladybug shook her head, "That's the Akuma talking," She walked in between Hawkmoth and Chat Blanc, "Take a breath, Adrien." She grabbed onto his arm and lowered it, "That anger will only help him win."

Hawkmoth watched an invisible battle between the two as they stared at each other. He saw how undefended her earrings are in this moment, a small smile breaking through his neutral facade.

With the swiftness of a cat, he grabbed Ladybug in a chokehold and pulled her against him, quickly stealing one of the earrings.

"NO!" Chat Blanc raised his arm again, the energy growing in size and power.

Hawkmoth made a clicking sound toward his son, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Adrien"

The energy in his palm kept growing however, a shocked expression fell onto the blonde's face.

The villain stumbled away from the shocked Chat Blanc, "What's going on?!"

"I- I can't stop it!" He cried out

Gabriel stole the other Earring, dropped Marinette, and ran.

Meanwhile, Marinette stood up and wiped away a tear, "Adrien Listen to me, you have to calm down." She squinted as the energy grew and began to surround her partner in a vibrant white light.

"Adrien?" She heard him let out a panicked scream as the energy continued to grow.

The girl walked in toward him, tears streaming down her face. Paris was burning around the two of them and Hawkmoth had the Ladybug Miraculous, but she didn't care.

She stopped just short of the energy and cupped her hands together, shouting three words into the energy field.

"I love you!"

A/N: Thanks for reading this story! This is the final chapter of the fic and I hoped you like it!


End file.
